How Not To Meet Your Ally
by BeyondTheClouds777
Summary: Sequel to "How Not To Ride Your Dragon." Dagur is dead, while Hiccup is finally getting over previous events. But where does that leave Berserk, and its inhabitants? Who is leading them? (You don't have to read "How Not To Ride Your Dragon" to understand this story). Post-HTTYD2.
1. Chapter 1

**NEW STORY! :D So I know I said "How Not To Ride Your Dragon" was the last book in the "How Not To" series, but I suppose that changed. :) I just got the idea for this story and simply HAD to write it. I love Hiccup/Valka bonding, and I had a lot of that in the previous story, but this one is focused slightly more on Hiccup/Astrid friendship. I don't have any big romance scenes, and they don't kiss (sorry to those who enjoy stuff like that). You don't have to read "How Not To Ride Your Dragon" to understand the story. It's optional. Although I would suggest it to some extent, you don't have to. Anywho, enough of my rambling. Enjoy the story! **

_This, is Berk. It's a couple hours East of No Where Ville and a couple days West of No Fun At All. It's located solemnly on the Midham of No Where Appreciated. _

_My home, a small village, which is the best kept secret this side of...well...anywhere. We have snowstorms that freeze the hairs off the back of your neck, and winds so cold and strong you feel as if you are going to be swept off your feet and blown halfway to the Isle of Night before you can even yell for help. And then the bad weather starts. _

_My name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. I am the relatively newly appointed Chief of this wet heap of rock we call home. Truly, though, it is home. Our home. And we Berkians have promised to protect it. I did so the minute I stepped forward to take my place as Chief. And the rest of the Berkians made their choice the instant they shouted, "Long live the Chief." And we will protect it. Even from the darkest and greatest of foes. _

Hiccup soared through the village on Toothless. Since becoming Chief, he always did his flights with Toothless either early morning, or sometimes (if he wasn't too worn out from a full day of chiefing) late at night, although that was seldom.

This time, though, it was at night. Hiccup and Toothless were both longing for a night to just enjoy being together, and so that was exactly what they did.

Of course, Hiccup had to first take it up with his mother, who was still worried. About two weeks ago, Gothi had said that Hiccup had fully recovered from his injuries. Two months before, Hiccup had battled Dagur, fought Dagur; and in the end, killed Dagur; intentionally or unintentionally, however you would like to put it. Dagur was dead. And since that day, when the battle between Berkian and Berserkers had been won in Berk's favor, they had never seen or heard anything from Berserk since.

A few of the Berserkers escaped; of course, it didn't mean much, though. They were few in numbers; what were they going to do?

Hiccup leaned over Toothless as the Night Fury spun into the night. It was incredible, flying was. After a few hours of flying, Hiccup headed back home. Everything seemed to be in order; no reason to stay out, especially since he woke up early to chief the village and fly with Toothless.

He landed Toothless in front of his house, and then dismounted. It was quiet, except from the snoring coming from Valka's dragon, Cloudjumper, heard from inside the house. Hiccup walked up to the door slowly, opening it as quietly as he could, hating the way it creaked. He really had to fix the creak.

He opened the door for Toothless, and then shut it behind both the dragon and himself. Right before he turned around, he heard someone speak to him.

"You're home late," said Valka.

Hiccup turned around and offered a smile. "Yeah," he said. "Sorry about that. Why are you up?"

"Looking for you," said Valka. She was hiding something, though; Hiccup could tell. That was something he and she both had in common; they could pretty much hide their emotions from other people fairly well, but not from each other.

"What aren't you telling me?" said Hiccup. He pulled a stool over and gestured for her to sit down while he dragged a second one over and placed it in front.

"I keep having these dreams, Hiccup," said Valka. "Every night I would wake up from them, and then I would make sure you were alright, because they feel so real. But you weren't there, and I didn't know where you were...and then I heard Toothless fly in, and was relieved, but...it was only two months ago, Hiccup. I still can't get over the fact that I came so close to losing you."

"Do you want to talk about it?" said Hiccup. "It helps sometimes, you know."

"I know it does," said Valka. "And so...in the dreams...it's the same every time. Dagur brings you back, and you die before the Berkians save us."

"I'm sorry," said Hiccup.

"Don't apologize," said Valka. "I guess it's anxiety that's causing the dreams, not so much the actual event itself. I mean, it's a huge part of it, but i just haven't let it go yet."

"Let what go?" said Hiccup.

"I can't get it out of my head, Hiccup," said Valka. "The fact that I almost lost you rings in my mind every time I close my eyes. I'm afraid to lose you. That's what it really is. I'm terrified of losing you. Especially after what happened to Stoick..." Her voice trailed off as she dropped her head.

"I'm not going anywhere, you know that, right?" said Hiccup.

"I'm afraid someone's going to come and take you, like Dagur took you all that time ago," said Valka.

"Ha," said Hiccup. "I'd like to see them try, what with the Walking Fireplace never leaving my side." Toothless snorted and whacked Hiccup with his tail.

Valka smiled. "I know," she said. "I just don't want to lose you."

"I won't leave you," said Hiccup. He gently took her hands in his and looked straight into her emerald green eyes that mirrored his own. "I promise."

"I know you won't," said Valka. "Thank you. But I don't know if I can get back to sleep now."

"You wanna play chess?" Hiccup offered. Without waiting for a reply, he stood up, grabbed their chessboard and set it on the table. "Astrid and I used to play. We don't really have time anymore." He sat down on the bench and gestured for her to sit on the other side. Valka did so, sitting across from Hiccup, the board in between them.

"You wanna be whites or blacks?" Hiccup asked.

"It doesn't matter to me, really," said Valka. "I guess whites."

Hiccup nodded and gave her her pieces for her to put up while setting up his own. They finished at about the same time, ready to start the game.

"Whites go first," said Hiccup. "Go for it."

"So, how have things been going as chief?" Valka asked, moving the pawn in front of the King two spaces ahead.

"Can't complain," said Hiccup, mirroring her move. "It's tiring, but really fun at times. Slightly irritating, too. I guess I have mixed feelings about it." He copied Valka's next move.

"I'm not very good at chess," said Valka.

"It doesn't matter very much," said Hiccup. "I'm not very good, either." They continued to play in silence.

...

"CHESSMATE!"

Hiccup threw his hands into the air when Valka slammed her Queen down on the same row as the King, putting him, with the help of other pieces, in counter check.

"You're kidding!" Hiccup said. "That's the seventh time this evening!"

"I know!" said Valka, laughing. "Again!"

Hiccup and Valka both took to resetting their pieces. The game ended in the same results; Valka shouting "CHESSMATE" and Hiccup pretty much falling off the bench in frustration. He wasn't one to care about winning, but this was beginning to grow ridiculous.

"One more time," said Hiccup, resetting his pieces. "One...more...time."

"That's what you said five games ago!" said Valka, but complied, putting her game characters in their assigned places. Then, the game began. About ten minutes later, the game ended with a "CHESSMATE!" from Valka and a "HOW DOES THAT KEEP HAPPENING!?" from Hiccup.

"One last game," said Hiccup. "Last time, I promise."

"Ohhh no," said Valka. "I would like to hold my position as champion."

"Oh, I see it!" said Hiccup, laughing. "You're afraid of losing to me!"

"I am not afraid," said Valka.

"Then play again!" said Hiccup, setting up his pieces without waiting for a reply.

Valka grinned mischievously and set up her own pawns. "You're a tricky boy, you know that?" she said.

"Yeah," said Hiccup, not taking his eyes off the game. "I get that a lot from Astrid."

"You deserve it," said Valka. The game went on, Valka winning again.

"Okay, I'm done," said Hiccup. "Ten games, and I didn't win one." Although his words betrayed his actions. He was grinning. Toothless and Cloudjumper were sleeping in the corner of the house. When Hiccup stood up, Toothless perked up and walked over to him.

"We'll have to play again tomorrow," said Hiccup. "I need revenge."

Valka laughed and helped Hiccup put the chess game away. After that, they both bid each other goodnight and headed to bed.

They were unaware of how much things were about to change.


	2. Chapter 2

**I am so sorry for the lack of updates yesterday; my computer and internet have both been going 'Nope!' and trying to almost _keep me _from posting something new. It's a conspiracy, I tell ya! A conspiracy! **

**Okay, sorry about that awkwardness. This is my FIRST update today, and WHY DOES IT HURT SO MUCH WHEN YOU STUB YOUR TOE LIKE WHAT IS UP WITH THAT!? I can run into a wall, trip over my feet, crash on a scooter, but NOTHING seems to be as bad as when you stub your toe! WHASSUP WITH THAT!? I DON'T GET IT! **

**Sorry, I'm being a bit random, because I stubbed my toe and it _still _hurts. *shrugs* HOW DOES IT DO THAT!? LIKE I DON'T GET IT! **

**Forget about my rambling, wonderful fanficers, and enjoy the chapter! :D **

The next morning, Hiccup woke up before the rest of the village, like he always did. He mounted Toothless, and headed off to do his daily chiefing duties. On his way, though, he saw one villager awake, walking through the plaza, a Deadly Nadder by her side.

"Astrid?" Hiccup asked out loud, although he knew the villager couldn't hear him. "Hey, Astrid!" Hiccup shouted as loud as he dared, knowing the rest of the village was asleep. Astrid turned around and watched him as he landed and dismounted, walking over to her.

"What are you doing up?" Hiccup asked.

"I couldn't sleep," said Astrid. "I woke up about an hour ago, and something just felt...off, you know. _If _you know, more like."

"That's strange," said Hiccup. "I don't think anything's wrong."

Astrid nodded. "Me neither," she said. "I don't know what could be up, you know."

"Me and you are up," said Hiccup.

Astrid shoved him. "That's not what I meant," she said.

"Yeah, I know," said Hiccup. "Would you like to accompany me?"

"Sure," said Astrid. She mounted Stormfly, Hiccup Toothless, and then the two of them headed out, flying over the island, looking for anything unusual.

"Don't you normally wake up earlier to do early morning flights with Toothless before the villagers wake up?" said Astrid.

"Yeah, I do, but I was up late last night," said Hiccup.

"You wanna take a few spins around the island, just for fun?" said Astrid.  
>"I don't see why not," said Hiccup. They flew their dragons around Berk, over and over and over again, not getting bored from it; just doing it, chattering the whole time about random subjects.<p>

"How are things going at the Academy?" Hiccup asked.

"Good," said Astrid. "Snotlout and the twins are just being...well..._Snotlout and the twins._ There's nothing more to really be said about the matter, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do," said Hiccup. "Nothing too interesting, huh."

"Nope," said Astrid. "It hasn't been the same without you, you know. You should come over some time and teach another class, just for old times sake."

"That'd be great," said Hiccup. "Maybe tomorrow, if I can take a day off."

"I'm sure you can," said Astrid. "I'll race you back to the plaza."

"You're on," said Hiccup. He and Astrid raced their dragons back to the center of the village. Hiccup came in first, landing Toothless and dismounting.

"I win," he said.

"Only by a nose!" said Astrid, dismounting and walking over to him.

Hiccup laughed, and then stopped, looking out into the early sunrise. Something was coming their way.

"What's that?" he wondered out loud.

"A nose is that thing on your face, weirdo," said Astrid. "I thought you knew that."

"No, out there," said Hiccup.

"Where?" said Astrid. "I don't see anything."

Hiccup turned her head into the direction of the whatever-it-was heading straight in their direction. Astrid looked at it and squinted as it neared. There was no doubt about it. It was heading for them.

"Should we go out and check it out before it gets here?" said Astrid.

"No, let's just wait for it to come to us," said Hiccup. "It could be a trap."

"But who would set a trap?" said Astrid. "The Berserkers are defeated, and the Outcasts are our allies. Who would..." She stopped, wondering whether or not she should continue. When Hiccup looked at her again, she decided she would. "...do you think it's Drago?" she said, her voice lowering to a whisper.

"I sure hope not," said Hiccup. If it were Drago, that would be _bad_.

The thing heading towards them was a Terrible Terror, carrying a rolled up scroll in its claws.

It dropped it over Hiccup's head, and he caught it.

"Airmail?" said Astrid. "What in the world...?"

Hiccup unrolled the scroll and looked over it. Then, he turned to Astrid, and frowned.

"What does it say?" said Astrid. "What does it say!?"

"I'll read it," said Hiccup. He held the scroll out in front of him, and read what was written on it:

_Dear Berkians, _

_It is normal for you to feel confused by this letter, but do not worry. I am writing to give you a warning of what is yet to come. We will attack you, soon. No dates will be given. _

_We have spread out in three different islands; if you take one of us down, you will be destroyed by the others. So, I have decided to tell you the destination of one, just in case you do not believe me about the coming threat, and would like to see it for yourselves. _

_Our main branch is located three hundred miles North of Dragon Island. You will know it when you see the weapons of war we have already built and created for one purpose and one purpose only: to destroy you. _

_I will not tell you the locations of our other two branches; this is just a warning letter. I want a fair fight._

_I would figure that if a villager found this note with the Terrible Terror we sent it with, they would give it to their Chief before opening it to read it themselves. So, assuming this is the Chief reading this message, I will give him a specific warning: _

_Chief Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third of the Hairy Hooligan tribe, this is a warning, as I have spoken many times previously. Heed it; you should. Prepare your army, if that is what you would like to do; it will be nothing against us, though. This is for revenge, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. Revenge. Of course, you would know. You were the one who caused it. _

_A Warning To Heed, _

_Lilya the Maniacal_

"Lilya the Maniacal," Astrid repeated. "Who is THAT? And what did she say about it being your fault? The revenge...what did you do to her?"

"I don't know," said Hiccup. "But I think we should take it up with the other villagers. We need a plan. We can't go off without one. Gather everyone up, Astrid. Tell them to get up to the Great Hall for an emergency meeting."

"Wait, Hiccup!" said Astrid before he ran off.

"What?" he said.

"What are you planning to do, when you tell everyone in the meeting? What will you tell them?" she asked. "Just tell me flat on."

"A search party, set up to go three hundred miles North of Dragon Island," said Hiccup. "After the meeting, we're going to check out that main branch."


	3. Chapter 3

**SOOOOO, YEAH. This is my SECOND update today, and it already seems as though you all have a lot of assumptions! :D It's cool to see what all of you think! As usual, I have the story planned out in my head already for what is going to happen and how it will happen and turn out in the end. So...yeah. You guys are awesome. :D Enjoy chapter 3!**

**WAIT A MINUTE: READ THIS: Note on the pronunciation: Lilya's name is pronounced "Lil-EYE-Yuh", just so there's no confusion. :) **

Astrid wasn't in the mood for Snotlout's and the twins' jokes. It was serious, and yet they were fooling around, not even paying attention when she was yelling at them.

"Get to the Great Hall, right now!" she ordered.

"Why?" said Tuffnut.

"Hiccup's called an emergency meeting," said Astrid. "You all have to get over there, now!"

Instantly, they mounted their dragons and headed off. Most the other villagers had already been gathered, so when Astrid and the others arrived at the Great Hall, it was crowded. They left their dragons outside and ran in the building, fighting to get a place near the front.

People were shooting questions at each other, all wondering the same thing; what was this all about? Hiccup stepped up in front of them, Valka standing by his side

"Quiet, please!" he shouted. After about three seconds, the villagers silenced themselves, waiting to hear what Hiccup was going to say.

"We have received a warning of war," said Hiccup. "A new threat looms over Berk even as we speak." He scanned the crowd with his eyes, meeting the terrorized looks of different Berkians. "The leader of this new threat is named Lilya the Maniacal. She gives us no other information other than the location of one of their main branches, and her name."

"What's the location!?" a villager shouted. "I say we go over there, and destroy it before they even get here!" The rest of the crowd whooped in agreement. Hiccup found himself wishing it could be that easy.

"Lilya has three branches," said Hiccup. "She only gave us the location of one so we could see that she's telling the truth about the war. If we attack one, the others will lay siege on Berk before we even get back to the island to defend it."

He opened the scroll, and read it out loud for all the villagers to hear. They gasped at the end when Lilya said it was Hiccup's fault.

"What are you suggesting we do, Chief Haddock?" Eret asked, pushing his way to the front, standing beside Astrid and the other dragon riders.

"A small search party, dragon back, will go over to the branch and check it out, see what they can learn," said Hiccup. "I do not doubt the threat is true, but it can't hurt to see for ourselves."

"Who's going to be in the search party?" said a villager.

"I will give the list," said Hiccup. "If your name is on the list, meet me at the armory after this. Everyone who is not on the list will remain here and help prepare the others for war. There will be four people in the search party, all dragon riders. Boats will take too long, and they aren't stealthy enough."

Hiccup took a deep breath and began counting off people to be in the search party. "Astrid Hofferson, Fishlegs Ingerman, and Snotlout Jorgenson. You are all members of the search-"

"But who's the fourth member?" someone shouted. "You said there would be four."

"Right," said Hiccup. "I'm the fourth member." Before anyone could object, he continued, "Lilya said clearly that it was my fault. I want to go and confront her. She said the island she gave us directions for is their main branch. It is pretty clear that if she is at any, she will be at this one. I have to go. Gobber, you are in charge. Mom, help him in any way he needs help. Everyone whose name was called, meet me at the armory. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, go help Gobber. Everyone else is dismissed. Follow Gobber, prepare yourselves for war."

The Berkians filed out without much of a word elsewhere. Astrid, Snotlout and Fishlegs went to the armory and waited for Hiccup to get there. Hiccup arrived another second later.

"Okay, so, go ahead and get ready to-" he started, and then heard a shout come from above.

"Hiccup!" shouted Valka, landing Cloudjumper and dismounting. "I'm going with you."

"What?" said Hiccup. "No, Mom, I need you to stay here."

"No," said Valka. "I need to come with you. Please. I can't stand you being out of my sight. Not after what happened, with Drago, and then Dagur...I can't. I have to go. And you can't stop me."

Hiccup nodded and complied. If he were in Valka's place, he wouldn't want her to go somewhere by herself, either.

"Okay," he said, turning to the others. "We'll leave as soon as we're ready. Suit up, get weapons, if you need them. I'll be back in a few minutes." He mounted Toothless and took off again. Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout and Valka entered the armory to pick out weapons. Astrid decided to stick with the axe she already had, while Snotlout grabbed a sword, and Fishlegs stuck with his Gronckle Iron blade. Valka chose a sword, and then the four of them walked back outside.

As if on cue, Hiccup returned, a quiver of arrows strapped around his back, his multi purpose shield in one hand, Inferno in its usual place.

He landed and dismounted, walking towards the others.

"You guys ready to take off?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.

The others nodded. Valka made sure she packed some bandages and medical supplies in Cloudjumper's saddlebag, just because she never knew what was going to happen. Shortly after, they mounted their dragons, and took off.

Three hundred miles North of Dragon Island. It was a near three day trip, even on dragons, and they would have to take it. One hundred miles a day, sleep on sea stacks at night, until they made it.

For the first time, Hiccup's thoughts took darker turns. What if something happened to one of his friends? What if this was all a trap set by Lilya to lead Hiccup to their main branch just so they could kill him? What if...what if...what if. There were so many what-ifs, it was unbelievable.

Valka knew he was distressed and worried, but she decided not to say anything. Sometimes, Hiccup just needed time for his brain to cooperate with him.

Hiccup's mind raced almost as fast as his dragon flew. What had he done to Lilya to make her hate him? She hadn't said specifically that she hated him, but she might have well said it with the note she sent him with the warning.

What did she want revenge on him for? Did it have to do with Drago? The Outcasts? The Berserkers? What?

Moreover, what was going to happen?

What were they going to find on the island?


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry in advance for this and all future cliffhangers. This is my THIRD update today, and this story's...I don't know. What do you guys think about it? I'm enjoying it. :) Depending on how I chose to end this one, there will either be a FINAL fanfiction (so there are five fics in the How Not To series) which would be called something having to do with a battle. What do you think? :) Bye ya'll! :D **

They traveled roughly one hundred miles the first day. They decided that, as opposed to stopping as soon as night fell, they would push their dragons until neither they nor the riders could continue. They needed to cover as much ground each day that they could. As Lilya had said in her letter, she wasn't giving them a date onto when they were attacking Berk.

Four hours later, they found that they had to land. Hiccup guessed it was around ten o'clock at night, judging by the position the moon was in. They called a stop and landed their dragons on the closest sea stack that was large enough to hold all five dragons and riders.

"Anyone got a plan?" said Snotlout.

"We've already run you over it seven times, Snotlout," said Astrid, yet complied with a sigh. "We continue North until we hit the island owned by Lilya...Crazy, Insane... What's-Her-Name-"

"Maniacal," said Hiccup.

"Yes, that's it," said Astrid. "Lilya the Maniacal. Once we do that, we're there to take a look at their forces. Then, we'll leave-"

"No," said Hiccup. "I need to talk to Lilya."

"WHAT!?" shouted the others in unison.

"You can't...you can't _talk _to someone who wants to kill you, Hiccup!" said Astrid. "You said you wanted to confront her earlier, and I thought you were just making an excuse for tagging along. I didn't know you were serious!" Really, she hadn't known. She had been sure Hiccup was just thinking up an excuse, and now he was serious?

"I don't joke about stuff like that, Astrid," said Hiccup.

"But Hiccup," said Astrid, "Lilya the Maniacal said it herself in the letter that this is for revenge, strictly against _you_. I can talk to her for you-"

"No, _I_ need to find out why she wants to kill me," said Hiccup. "I need to find out what I did to her. What I did to...to...make her _hate _me."

"Are you sure, Hiccup?" said Valka. "If you go, I think I'd like to go with you."

"No," said Hiccup. "You can't. I can't...I can't risk any of you getting hurt. I'm sorry."

"Hiccup, it's crazy," said Fishlegs. "You can't just go and expect Lilya to have a welcome party in your honor. She wants to kill you."

"I know that, Fishlegs, thank you," said Hiccup. His voice was free of anger, sarcasm, and pretty much every other emotion. "I need to do it, though. I need to learn the truth."

Silence followed his statement.

"Sorry," said Hiccup. "I'm going to go first, and then while Lilya is distracted with me, the rest of you look around, try and figure out when she plans to attack us. I'll get out, and escape. The rest of you follow me, don't leave until I give the signal."

"I don't remember this being part of the plan," said Astrid.

"Because he just made it up," said Snotlout.

"I just need you guys to trust me," said Hiccup. "The more you do that, the better off we'll all be. Now, everyone go ahead and get some sleep, I'll take first watch." That was Hiccup's way of saying _I don't want to talk, leave me be, I want to be alone. _The conversation was over. Knowing this, the others took their places beside their already sleeping dragons, and tried to get some sleep themselves.

Snotlout and Fishlegs were asleep quickly. At first, Valka couldn't sleep, her eyes on Hiccup, but then exhaustion won over, and she fell into a deep slumber. Astrid laid awake, watching Hiccup, worrying for him, wondering what he was planning in his head. Of course, she already knew what he was planning, but she didn't know how he expected it would turn out, nor did she know how he _wanted _it to turn out.

Hiccup sat at the edge of the sea stack, his feet dangling over the edge of it. He stared into the nothingness in front of him, silently wondering if everyone else was asleep.

At length, Astrid couldn't take it anymore. She stood up, making sure not to disturb any of the other riders, and walked over to Hiccup, approaching him as if he were a dragon that would be easily startled. Then, she sat down beside him, as close as she dared, matching his gaze.

"Whatcha looking at?" said Astrid.

"Nothing really," said Hiccup. "I'm just trying to figure out why Lilya hates me. I've never even heard that name before; Lilya the Maniacal, and yet she's my enemy. Why? For revenge, she said. But revenge for what? Is she working for Drago? There's no way to know until I talk to her."

He sighed and turned to face Astrid. "I know you're worried," he said. "I can see it. I'm worried, too, but I can't help what I have to do. I don't want to talk to Lilya, but I need to know what happened between us. I need to know why she wants to destroy Berk. Most people have a reason for hating us. Dagur hated us because I lied to him. Alvin hated us because he was outcasted from Berk. Drago wanted power. What does Lilya want?"

He ran his hand over his shield, hitting the trigger that morphed it into a crossbow. Astrid suddenly realized the reason for the quiver of arrows; his crossbow. He turned it back into a shield and stared back at her.

"You should get some sleep," he said.

"So should you," said Astrid. "Hiccup, we are on a _sea stack _in the middle of no where. What are you guarding us from? Flies?"

"Why not?" said Hiccup. "They're nasty things."

"Get some sleep," said Astrid.

"Okay, fine," said Hiccup. "So demanding..." he grinned.

Sooner than later, both of them were asleep, wondering what the next day would bring for them and their dragons.

...

The next morning, they started out early. After the first ray of dawn sunlight broke over the sea stack they encamped on, they mounted their dragons and headed off, continuing their flight.

After a while, they lost track of how many miles they had traveled, and decided that counting wouldn't do much good, either. They would know the island when the came to it, Hiccup and the others were one hundred percent certain.

By nightfall, an island was in view. But it wasn't just any island. It was the island of their new enemies. Hiccup frowned, watching the others do the same.

"Well, we're here, I guess," said Hiccup. "Remember the plan. I'm going to go talk to Lilya...or, try to, anyways...and then we're going to leave. No strings attatched. We'll have to split up and go in different directions, though. Mom, you go East. Astrid, you go South. Fishlegs, you go North, and Snotlout, you go West. I'll go straight to the Great Hall...wherever that is...and demand to see Lilya the Maniacal."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" said Fishlegs.

"If you have a better one I'm open," said Hiccup.

"Okay," said Fishlegs. "Proceed."

They scattered in different directions, going to their assigned areas. Hiccup landed Toothless in front of the Great Hall (or, he figured it was the Great Hall, since it was the biggest building), and then told the dragon to hide and wait for Hiccup to call him. Toothless nodded and did so, making sure Hiccup stayed in his sight. Then, Hiccup walked up the few steps leading up to it, and rapped on the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm not so sure how I feel about this chapter. *shrugs* I kind of like it, actually, you know. :) This is my FIRST update today, and...yeah. I like this chapter for some odd reason, actually. :) I hope you guys enjoy it, this is where it gets a little crazy. :) **

Three words. Three little words, and Hiccup was creeped out.

"Good, you're here." Those three little words, spoken by the tall, burly guard who answered Hiccup's knock. Hiccup was roughly six feet, and yet this guy gave him chills. On instinct, Hiccup drew Inferno and clicked the trigger, extending the blade in his hand until it grew to the size of a normal sword, and then the blade lit on fire, wild and crazy.

"I'm looking for your leader," said Hiccup. "Lilya the Maniacal, she called herself."

"Yes, she told me you were coming," the guard answered. He growled, almost like an animal. "I hate Hooligans."

"Duly noted," said Hiccup.

"Come in," said the guard. "Lilya would be pleased to see you. You know, she really hates you even more than I do. She wants you dead."

"Duly noted," said Hiccup. He walked inside, ignoring the other villagers. They were all men, clad in armor, weapons swinging at their sides, ready to be used in battle. Except one specific person who stood out from the rest. A girl, about as tall as Hiccup was, long, wavy blonde hair tossed unceremoniously over her shoulders. Her blue eyes glittered with hatred, her smile was fake and...well..._maniacal. _She wore black leather armor over a short, white dress coming down a little bit below her knees. She wore black leather combat boots, and in her hand held a black metal spear.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," she spoke, her voice a strange mix of anger and satisfaction. "I welcome you to one of the three groups of Hysteria."

"So your island's called Hysteria, and you're Maniacal," said Hiccup. "Makes sense, actually."

"And you're Horrendous, as your name implies," said the girl, stepping forward. "I'm glad you recognized me. Lilya the Maniacal, Chief of Hysteria. I am glad to have you here, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Chief of Berk."

"And I suppose I am glad to be here," said Hiccup. "I don't know what you exactly expect me to say."

Lilya laughed. "I suppose not," she said. "You can lower your sword. I'm not going to kill you while you're on Hysteria. Oh no, of course not. I plan to let you leave this island, for what it's worth, and then capture you once we lay siege on Berk. After we take it, I will kill every single Berkian, starting with those closest to you, ending with you. That way, you will watch every single one of your people, friends, and family _die._"

"Why are you doing this?" said Hiccup, not lowering Inferno even slightly, not trusting Lilya as far as he could throw her. "What did I ever do to you?"

"Don't you see, Hiccup?" said Lilya. "Apparently not, or you wouldn't be here. You came to figure out why I hate you, yes?" She paused, glancing at the countless villagers watching her in the huge Hall. "Follow me, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," said Lilya gesturing to a door at the back of the Great Hall. "We have some important business to discuss."

She turned and walked away, and Hiccup had no choice but to follow her. She walked through the door, waited for Hiccup to walk in, and then closed it behind him, locking it and barring it. She turned around to face Hiccup and clapped her hands together once.

"Okey-dokey then," said Lilya. "Let's get down to business."

"What do you _want_, Lilya?" said Hiccup.

"Did the letter not make it clear?" said Lilya, taking a step forward, drawing her sword and tapping it gently against Inferno. "Revenge, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. _Revenge_. That's all I want." She withdrew her blade and took a step backwards.

"But why?" said Hiccup. "What did I do? What did _Berk _do?"

"Oh, Berk didn't do anything," said Lilya. "It's you specifically. And since you lead Berk, in order to make you pay, I first have to make you watch everyone else you lead and love die. Then, you will pay in full."

"You're not answering my question," said Hiccup. "What. Did. I. Do?"

Lilya frowned for the first time since Hiccup and her met. "Isn't is _painfully _obvious?" she said. "Well, don't answer that. You still won't get it no matter how obvious I say it is. Instead, I will just show you."

She lit an oil lamp and hung it on a hook engraved in the wall and pointed to a portrait on the left wall. Hiccup studied it, and then realized it was a painting of an island. An island..._he recognized. _

"Berserk," said Hiccup. Lilya nodded. "What does this have to do with Berserk?"

"Everything, Hiccup," said Lilya. "I was once a Berserker, before they went to war, leaving most of us here. They went to war against the Berkians, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. When no one came back, most of us gave up, making a new home here on Hysteria, building two other forts on different islands. Then, and only then, some Berserkers escaped from your prison. They told us you had killed Dagur the Deranged, our leader. Berserk fell to ruins shortly after, all the remaining citizens of said isle coming to live either here or on one of the other two isles of Hysteria."

"I'm sorry we took you from your home, Lilya," said Hiccup. "I had no idea-"

"Oh, _that _wet heap of rock?" said Lilya with a disgusted look on her face. "Oh, I could have cared _less _about that horrible place. It was awful. No one could have enjoyed living there, actually, if you know what I mean."

As much as Hiccup wanted to disagree with his new foe, he found himself agreeing so far with horrificness of Berserk.

But that still didn't answer his question. What had he done to Lilya to make her want revenge? If she didn't care about Berserk, then what was it?

"What have I don, Lilya?" said Hiccup. "If you don't care about Berserk...well, _didn't _care about Berserk...then why do you want revenge? Why do you want to kill me?"

Lilya sighed and picked up a shield from the far corner of the room. Bringing it back to light, Hiccup saw it was a silver shield about the same size as his own, with a black Skrill (the symbol of the Berserkers) painted on the front.

"You killed Dagur. You haven't figured it out yet? Why I would be so upset by that?" said Lilya. Hiccup didn't answer; nor did he even shake or nod his head to indicate that he had heard her. Some part of him knew what she was talking about, the other part being confused. "Dagur told me he told you at one point," Lilya added.

Hiccup suddenly realized.

"_Yep, a shield. Just a plain, ordinary shield," Hiccup had said to Dagur what seemed like years and years and years ago. _

"_How...ornate," Dagur had replied, sounding awed and irritated at the same time. "My sister has one." _

"You're Dagur's sister," said Hiccup.

Lilya didn't answer right away. "You killed Dagur," she said. "You killed my brother."


	6. Chapter 6

**Just so you all know, any flashbacks or dreams will be in the Present Tense (like they do in the Maze Runner books, just so there's no question as to what's a dream and what's reality). Just so you all know. This is my SECOND update today, and I'm sorry in advance for the cliffhanger. Enjoy! :D **

Astrid took her side, searching for any sign of anything that could pinpoint the date they were going to attack. She pushed any thought about Hiccup aside; she needed to focus right now. He would be fine.

"I don't see anything, girl," said Astrid to Stormfly. The Nadder grunted in agreement. "I guess we'll head back and see if someone else needs our help," Astrid suggested. Then, she turned her dragon and headed to see how Valka was getting along.

...

Valka couldn't stop thinking about the dream she had experienced the night before. She hadn't told anyone about it, just because she didn't want anyone to worry. But it kept playing over in her mind; the same dream, every time:

_She and Hiccup are in Dagur's prison cell. Dagur comes in, says a few words, unlocks it and pulls Hiccup out. Hiccup tells Valka to stay calm, and that he would be back, but Valka doesn't believe it. Dagur locks it up again, and pushes Hiccup back up the long hallway to who knows where. _

_A few minutes later, the torchlight reappears, Dagur coming, dragging Hiccup with him. Valka shrieks as Dagur opens the door and tosses Hiccup inside and locks the door once more. And it's the same every time; Hiccup is dead. She presses her ear to his chest, hearing silence that seems louder than Dagur's maniacal laugh. _

Valka shook her head, hating how that nightmare kept coming back to haunt her. The same dream she had been struggling with every night since Hiccup and her escaped from Dagur's clutches. She knew Hiccup was alive; why did the nightmares keep telling her otherwise? He was fine. She knew it.

But as she thought about it, she realized that at that exact moment, she didn't know it. She didn't know where Hiccup was. She didn't know if he was hurt, or something. She didn't know if he had been captured again. She didn't know...she didn't know...if he was even _alive_.

She heard the sound of flapping wings, and then Astrid came into view, riding Stormfly to follow the pace Valka had with Cloudjumper.

"Anything yet?" said Astrid.

Valka shook her head. "No," she said. "Nothing yet. Have you seen any sign of Hiccup?"

Astrid shook her head, wishing with every fiber of her being that she had. "Not yet," she said. "But hey, he's Hiccup. Nothing can happen." The more she thought about it, the more thoughts told her the exact opposite. Him being Hiccup actually meant he was _more _prone to danger than one normally would be. If danger were a stick of dynamite, Hiccup would have been the perfect match.

"That's what worries me," said Valka as if reading her thoughts. "It just scares me even more, although I can tell you are trying to reassure me."

Astrid nodded and stared out into space. "Well, I don't see anything over here," she said, changing the subject intentionally. "Maybe we should see how Snotlout, or Fishlegs is holding up."  
>"We should probably see Snotlout first," said Valka. "You know how <em>he <em>is."

They turned their dragons, and headed off to see Snotlout.

...

Lilya examined her still-drawn sword, looking at it, and then looking back at Hiccup as if wondering whether or not to kill him, which she really probably was.

"You killed my brother, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," said Lilya. "Now do you see it? Why wouldn't I want to kill you? What reason do I have to let you live, huh? Now that I think about it...I don't know why I'm keeping you alive even now. Maybe I should kill you, right now, at this moment, and _then _take down Berk."

"Lilya, you're crazy," said Hiccup. "I'm sorry about what I did to Dagur, but it was only out of self defense. You have to believe me, I would never actually kill Dagur just to kill someone. I don't kill for sport!"

"Lies!" said Lilya. "You didn't know Dagur like I did, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. What you know pales in comparison to all my knowledge. Oh sure, you can train a few dragons, maybe...but training them doesn't mean anything. What about forcing them? Like how I forced that Terrible Terror to give Berk that message. Training, fine. Forcing, now that's fun. I love to watch their facial expressions when they realize that I'm not giving them a choice."

"Lilya, what I did...I didn't have the choice, and it wasn't really even my fault," said Hiccup. "Dagur fell off a cliff!"

"Why?" said Lilya. "You were the one fighting him when it happened, weren't you? You could have saved him, and you know you could have, Hiccup, but did you? No! And now, you could have been my ally. But now...you're my _enemy_."

She lunged with a scream of fury, her shield in one hand, her sword in the other. Instantly, Hiccup met her head on with Inferno in his left hand, his Gronckle Iron, multi purpose shield in the right. Lilya pressed hard against Hiccup's weapon with her own, sparks flying.

"You killed my brother," she repeated. "Now it's up to me to avenge him."

She swiped at his legs with another battle cry, and Hiccup just barely jumped backwards far enough to miss the blade. Lilya charged, and this time, Hiccup retreated, and then realized Lilya had barred the door.

"YAAAGH!" Lilya screamed. "ADMIT IT, HICCUP! ADMIT WHAT YOU DID! JUST...AD...MIT...IT!"

"Lilya, you have to listen to me!" Hiccup shouted, holding up his shield for protection against the girl's weapon. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, okay!? I didn't want Dagur to die! It was never my intention!"

"You still haven't admitted it!" said Lilya. "Admit it! You killed my brother! Admit it! Tell me! I want to hear it for myself! TELL ME, HICCUP HORRENDOUS HADDOCK THE THIRD. TELL...ME...THAT...YOU...DID...IT!"

"I'm sorry Dagur died!" said Hiccup frantically, searching for a way out. If he could just distract Lilya long enough to open the door, maybe, just maybe, he could make his escape. But it was a long shot.

Hiccup sheathed Inferno, strapped it back in its usual spot, and then activated the bola launcher on his shield. He fired one at Lilya's legs just as she came running at him again. The bola wrapped around her ankles, tripping her to the ground. She slashed at the bonds with her sword, and Hiccup knew he didn't have much time.

He raced over to the door and quickly unbarred it. He was just about to draw Inferno to smash the locks when Lilya tacked him from behind, having finally untangled herself. Hiccup dropped his shield, the defense/weapon clattering against the stone floor.

Hiccup swung Lilya off of him and regained his shield. As soon as he did, he fired another bola at the girl. Lilya crashed to the ground once more and let out a scream in fury. Before she could grab her sword, Hiccup smashed the last lock and swung open the door.

"HELP!" Lilya screamed. "KILL HICCUP! KILL HIM!"

Hiccup slammed the door before she could give another order. Then, turning around, he realized it was too late. All Lilya's men stood, weapons drawn, in the Great Hall, ready to fight.

"Fifty against one?" said Hiccup. "What could possibly go wrong?" Then, he charged.


	7. Chapter 7

**This is my THIRD update today, and yeah, I'm sorry (as usual) for the cliffhanger that follows this chapter. You know I just can't help the cliffiness of all of my stories. It's who I am! :D Anyways, enjoy the chapter, hate the cliffhanger, or hate the chapter, enjoy the cliffhanger, or the other way around, or neither, or both, or love them both, or hate them both, or...never mind. I'll update soon! :D **

Hiccup ducked, jumped and dodged madly as the weapons sailed over him and under him, each one trying to kill him in a different way, each way more horrible than the last. Hiccup parried with a soldier, swung the weapon out of his hands, caught it, and threw it at another soldier.

All in all, he thought he was doing pretty good.

Until Lilya showed up.

"KILL HIM!" she shouted. "KILL THE BERKIAN CHIEF! NOW!"

Hiccup grabbed a fallen hammer and threw it at the soldier who had let him in. It smacked into his calf, and he let out a yelp; it was more of a surprised one than one that would come from pain.

"I told you I hate Hooligans!" he roared in fury.

"And I told you it was duly noted!" Hiccup shouted back. "Thanks for the info though, man! Not that I'll remember it for more than thirty seconds..."

"KILL HIM!" shouted Lilya, racing forward, her guards making a place for her. "HE'S OUTNUMBERED! JUST KILL HIM! SOMEBODY KILL HIM!"

Hiccup tore through the crowd, ducking and parrying, jumping, dodging, somersaulting, parrying, ducking, swinging, jumping, parrying, and then repeating over and over and over again until it made his head spin. None of the soldiers seemed able to end his life just yet, and he was thankful for that. If he could _just _make it outside, where Toothless was waiting...

"STOP HIM!" said Lilya. "HE'S GETTING AWAY!"

Guards advanced in all directions while Hiccup made for the door. He sheathed Inferno and activated the crossbow on his shield, drawing arrows from his quiver and firing them at soldiers to distract them.

"WHERE IN THE WORLD DID HE GET THE CROSSBOW!?" one of the guards shouted.

"WHO CARES!?" said Lilya. "KILL HIM! KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM!"

"BUT HE'S GOT A CROSSBOW!" said the same soldier. "We don't have crossbows, he'll kill us before we have a shot!"

"I HAVE ONE!" one of the guards shouted. There was a distant sound of an arrow soaring through the air, but Hiccup ignored it. His eyes were glued to his target; the exit.

Hiccup threw his weight up against the Great Hall doors. Instantly, they opened, and he tumbled out, not expecting them to give way so easily. He skidded to his feet and continued running, the sounds of screams and shouts coming from the Great Hall as the soldiers followed him.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup screamed, not even slowing down. "TOOTHLESS!"

The Night Fury sprang down from the roof of the Great Hall and landed right in front of Hiccup. Hiccup barely had time to notice where the dragon had been hiding when he heard something soar through the air. Before he could make out what it was, there was a blinding pain in his left leg above his knee. He screamed and put his hand against it, and then realized that it was a dart. Someone had thrown a dart at him.

He wrapped his fingers around it and yanked it out of his leg. He threw the dart to the ground and mounted his dragon, urging him off as quickly as possible. Toothless spread his wings and took to the air, soaring over Hysteria. Hiccup looked back to see the soldiers stop and stare, wondering how they were going to take Hiccup out now.

Hiccup smiled and laughed for no reason except for the fact that he was alive. Alive, and mostly well, except for that dart. What was that? Didn't really matter to him at that moment, in complete honesty. He was _alive_. Not dead. He had outsmarted Lilya; for now, anyways. They would still attack Berk; maybe even sooner than they had originally intended now that Lilya had a real hate fest with Hiccup. But it didn't matter at that point. He was _alive_.

"Let's get out of here," he decided. Toothless flew towards the West side to meet up with one of the dragon riders and declare that the search party was leaving. Hiccup hadn't learned anything of their plans for war, but maybe it was just as well. He couldn't have stuck around long enough to figure out. Not with Lilya and her soldiers going all death crazy.

He suddenly felt dizzy. It didn't take a genius nor did it take a whole lot of thought for Hiccup to realize it had been the dart. Drat that dart. He mentally yelled at himself for getting hit by it. He didn't know what the dart had been designed to do.

He wrapped his arms around Toothless' neck to keep himself from falling off the side of the dragon. He forced himself to work the tailfin, trying to at least get to West side before he...

Too late.

Before he knew what was happening, he felt him and Toothless falling. But he couldn't do anything; he couldn't stop it. As if it were an endless dream; you can only watch. He could only watch. And even then, his vision was failing. His body wasn't cooperating. He lost consciousness just before slamming into the ground.


	8. Chapter 8

**This is my FIRST update today, and I am having fun fun fun fun fun. :) Love this story! :D Enjoy chapter 8! **

Valka and Astrid met up with Snotlout. After finding nothing in his area, they met up with Fishlegs. So far, no sign of anything, except the fact that they _were _indeed planning a war. No sign of when they were attacking. No sign of Hiccup.

"What should we do now?" said Astrid. She was worried as much as everyone else was if not more. Hiccup was missing on the island of their new enemy, and although he had told Astrid he would escape and meet up with them, there was no telling where he was and what he was doing.

He was Hiccup. Astrid's idea of one thing could have meant the exact opposite of what Hiccup's idea of that same thing was.

"I don't know," said Fishlegs. "We should probably find Hiccup, shouldn't we?"

"I don't know," said Snotlout. "I mean, he has Toothless with him, doesn't he? Nothing can happen so long as that Night Fury's with him. I mean...seriously, he's a Night Fury!"

"I didn't say I doubted Toothless," said Valka. "But Hiccup should have met up with us by now. It's not like him to just...not tell anyone what he is doing."

"What if he was captured?" said Fishlegs. "If he was captured, he can't tell us anything at all. Have you ever thought of that?"

"Yes," said Astrid. "Exactly why I'm worried. We have to go..." She gasped suddenly. "Get down!" she shouted in a harsh whisper. Instantly, the riders turned their dragons and ducked behind trees. The riders dismounted and hid in the bushes, looking at what Astrid had shouted about.

It was a group of maybe fifty male soldiers, clad in heavy armor, weapons strapped at their sides. They were carrying torches in one hand, shields in the other. The only female was the one in the front, leading them. Long, wavy blonde hair tossed over her shoulders, black armor glittering in the torchlight, face contorted in a sneer; angry and bitter, one hand holding a shield, the other gripping a sword to the point where her knuckles were white.

"Come on," the girl ordered. Her voice was full of hatred, anger, and bitterness. "He shouldn't be too hard to find, what with that dart we hit him with."

"Hiccup," Astrid whispered to Valka. "That girl must be Lilya."

"Yes ma'am, Lilya the Maniacal," one of the soldiers saluted, followed by the others in a rapid session.

"Good," said Lilya, turning to face her soldiers, the evil gleam never leaving her eyes. "If you see Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, I don't care what it takes. Kill him on spot. Don't give him a chance to speak. Kill him as soon as you see him. We'll head North and look there first, and then go to the West, then South, and then East. Keep your crossbows ready. Let's move, people!"

Then, they tore through the forest quicker than Terrible Terrors scattering away from a dragon bigger than they. The Berkians and their dragons watched them in hiding until they were out of sight, their torchlight mostly gone.

Astrid jumped out of her hiding spot, Valka, Snotlout, Fishlegs and the dragons doing the same, standing behind her, watching as the very last light of the torches vanished into the darkness.

"What did they say about a dart?" said Fishlegs.

"Sleeping darts, most likely," said Astrid. "And they spoke of hitting Hiccup with one."

"And they said clearly - maybe a bit indirectly - that they were searching for Hiccup too, didn't they?" said Fishlegs. Everyone else nodded, eager to hear his point. "Meaning he's _not _in custody, and they don't know where he is."

"But if he was flying Toothless when he was knocked out, they would have crashed," said Snotlout. "Toothless can't fly on his own, and if Hiccup wasn't conscious, it just makes sense. Where would they have been heading after escaping Lilya?"

"Probably to one of the compass points," said Astrid. "North, South, East, or West. They wouldn't have stayed where they were if they were being hunted, they would have left, come to us, told us we were leaving and such."

"What are you suggesting we do?" Valka questioned. Astrid could tell by her voice that Valka was terrified; and really, it wasn't hard to see why. Her son - the last surviving member of her family besides herself - was in danger, being hunted by people who wanted to kill him.

"We have to split up," said Astrid. "Fishlegs, you go West. I'll go North. Snotlout, you go South, and Valka, you search East. We'll meet at South in half an hour, if all goes well. Ready?"

The others nodded.

"Then let's head out," said Astrid. She and the others mounted their dragons quickly, and then they took to the sky, heading to their assigned areas. Astrid looked below as she flew towards the North side of the island, and then saw the torchlights of Lilya and her men. She flew ahead of them overhead and scanned the North area with her eyes. Then, she swooped low enough to just barely catch some of Lilya's words;

"Nothing here. We'll head West." That was it. Nothing else. Astrid didn't know what she was supposed to do except keep looking. Fishlegs would be okay at the West side. He knew what he was doing. She continued to search the North side, hoping against all odds that Hiccup was okay.

...

Hiccup came to himself with a groan. He stood up, putting a hand against his head and willing the throbbing to stop. Once it did, he looked around. Toothless was standing beside him, nudging him. Hiccup hugged the dragon, and then went back to assessing the area.

"Are you okay, bud?" he asked Toothless. Toothless answered by licking him. Hiccup smiled, and then looked at himself, making sure he hadn't received any injuries. "I think I'm okay, too," he said. "But we have to get out of here, and meet up with the others. They're probably wondering where we are. I'm going to be hearing it from Astrid and Mom as soon as I get back."

Toothless cooed in agreement, and then motioned for Hiccup to mount. Judging by the dizziness he felt, Hiccup didn't think it was a good idea to go dragon back at that point. They would just crash again, and maybe receive different results the second time.

"I don't think I can control your tailfin right now. We'll have to walk, buddy," he said. Toothless looked as disappointed as Hiccup felt. They both were desperate to get off Hysteria, but they also both knew flying wasn't going to work at that moment.

Then, Hiccup heard a twig snap. Instantly, he had his shield in crossbow form, and arrow ready to fire, aiming it at the dark, approaching figures. One of them was almost shaped like a dragon, but he couldn't trust himself to believe it was one of the riders yet. Lilya had said plainly that she had forced dragons to do her bidding in the past. He wasn't trusting this one quite yet.

...

Fishlegs walked on the West side of the island, wondering where Hiccup was. He stepped on a stick, hating the rather loud cracking noise it made. He stopped as soon as he heard it, and then was greeted by another sound; the sound of metal against metal, like an arrow sliding into a crossbow...

Then he looked to the side, and saw Hiccup, his shield in crossbow form, aiming right at him, ready to fire it.


	9. Chapter 9

**This is my SECOND update toady. Is this story getting crazy, or what? :) Hope you enjoy the chapter! :D I'll post a third one later (and quite possibly a forth one as well if you're lucky. :D) ENJOY! :D **

"HICCUP! DON'T SHOOT!" Fishlegs screamed.

Hiccup had seen and been through so much that day that the sound of his friend - terrified as ever - made his stiff posture drop. He lowered his crossbow and sighed with relief as Fishlegs ran towards him.

"For the love of _dragons_, Fishlegs, I could have killed you!" shouted Hiccup.

"Thank you, for not killing me," said Fishlegs, catching his breath.

"What are you doing?" Hiccup asked as he pulled the trigger, turning his crossbow back into a shield.

"I came to get you!" said Fishlegs. "We're all looking for you, and we're worried like mad! Especially Astrid, and Valka."

"Next time, wait until I disarm the crossbow," Hiccup suggested. "Could you image if I thought you were someone else?"

"I know, but-"

"Shh, GET BACK!" Hiccup ordered, pulling Fishlegs behind a tree and jumping behind a different one himself. Torch light lit up the area, and Hiccup heard shouts of glee and screams of war as the sound of arrows flying through the air met their ears, along with the sound of the arrows hitting the trees they were hiding behind. The search party had found them.

"Talk about enemy territory," Hiccup grumbled, turning his shield back into crossbow mode while loading an arrow in it. "This is ridiculous." He moved out from behind the tree just long enough to fire the arrow. Instantly, he ducked in hiding again as ten came back at him from the enemy troops.

"I don't think they like us very much," said Fishlegs in a shaky voice.

"Yeah, got that," said Hiccup. He loaded another arrow, turned, and fired it.

"Lilya wants to kill you," said Fishlegs. "

"Splendid," said Hiccup. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Wait, you knew she wanted to kill you?" said Fishlegs.

"Yeah," said Hiccup, turning around just barely long enough to fire another arrow. "Does _anyone not _know? Lilya isn't the type of person who likes to discuss their differences over lunch, now is she?" It was a statement; not a question.

"Unfortunately, no," said Fishlegs.

"We need to get out of here," said Hiccup. "This is going to be crazy, Fishlegs, but you have to trust me." He looked at Meatlung and Toothless, hiding behind trees of their own, waiting for a command.

"Oookay," said Fishlegs in a nervous voice. "What do I do?"

"Run," said Hiccup. "I want you to run, and never stop running until we're clear to take off. Get on Meatlung as soon as we clear, and then head off. I'll do the same on Toothless, but I need to draw their fire first."

"Draw their fire?" said Fishlegs with a frown. "What does that mean?"

"RUN!" Hiccup yelled, shoving Fishlegs in the direction he was supposed to go. "Run run run run run run!" Fishlegs, without any protection, didn't have the choice. Meatlung ran behind him, deeper into the forest.

"Hey, Lilya!" Hiccup shouted. "Look at me! I'm ALIVE! NOT DEAD!"

"KILL HIM!" Lilya screamed at her men. "KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM! I never want to see him alive AGAIN!"

Hiccup turned and ran, holding up his shield for protection, drawing arrows every now and then, switching his shield to crossbow mode and firing them at random. He mounted Toothless, and Toothless started running. Hiccup caught up with Fishlegs, who was doing the same. They could hear the sounds of Lilya's men following them from behind, but the voices and shouts were growing more and more faint. The dragons were outrunning them. They were going to escape.

The dragons turned a corner, hiding in the shade of the trees. They waited until they heard the shouts of Lilya's men come back, looking for them. Hiccup hoped with every fiber of his being that the others were well hidden. He let out a breath he wasn't aware he had been holding when Lilya's men scattered in directions to look for them, moving away from Hiccup, Fishlegs and their dragons.

As soon as they were gone, Fishlegs stood up and ran. "Come on, Hiccup," he whispered harshly. "We have to move."

"Wait..." Hiccup gasped, his voice just barely audible. "Wait..."

"Wait why?" said Fishlegs, turning around, watching as Hiccup put his hand up against one of the trees, leaning his weight on it. His other hand was pressed against his abdomen. "What's wrong?"

Hiccup looked up at him and moved his hand away from his stomach, revealing a small, dart-like arrow sticking out of it.

"Doesn't look too good, does it?" Hiccup said. Fishlegs gasped. Hiccup nodded. "We should move," he said.

Fishlegs shook his head. "No _way _you can move like that," he said.

"Give me another option, and I'm open," said Hiccup. "We can't wait here, we'll be killed by Lilya and her maniacs. Do we have another choice?"

Fishlegs groaned. Why did he have to be so reasonable? "No," he said. "We take care of you, _then _meet up with the others."

"Fine," said Hiccup, knowing there was no reasoning with Fishlegs once he got his mind set on something. "Give me a minute to remove the arrow."

"REMOVE IT!?" Fishlegs shrieked, and then pressed a hand over his mouth, looking around, hoping none of Lilya's men heard him shout. "What do you mean?" he said in a harsh whisper.

"You know as well as I do I can't leave it in," said Hiccup. "I have to get it out." He wrapped his hand around the arrow, set his shield against a tree, and drew his dagger. Then, he removed it with his dagger, hissing through his teeth as he did so. When he finished that, he threw the arrow to the side and sheathed his dagger.

"I don't have bandages with me," said Hiccup. "As soon as we meet up with the others, I'll take care of it. Right now, though, we either go, or we die." He mounted Toothless again, and Fishlegs did the same.

"Where are we meeting the others?" Hiccup asked.

"They said the South end of the island," said Fishlegs. "You need to tell me what happened on the way over there."

Hiccup nodded. The entire flight to the South end of Hysteria, Hiccup told Fishlegs everything; the thing about Dagur being Lilya's sister, what the island was named, the incident in the Great Hall, the battle, the dart, and then waking up and almost shooting Fishlegs. Fishlegs listened with awe, wondering how Hiccup could undergo so much in such a short time.

"So...that's why Lilya hates you," said Fishlegs.

"Most Chiefs who meet me hate me," said Hiccup. He shrugged. "Remember Alvin? What about Dagur the Deranged? Now _he _was a pretty crazy guy if I've ever known one. Drago, if you could even call him a chief? And now Lilya also wants to kill me. I guess it's something that comes with being me. Everyone hates you." He smiled, despite the situation. Fishlegs smiled back at him. If Hiccup was smiling, then it wasn't as bad as it seemed.

Or maybe he was smiling because it was worse than it seemed, and he was trying to keep positive.


	10. Chapter 10

**Enjoy chapter 10! One shout-out: **

**silverwolvesarecool: Really? You would draw covers for me? That is so nice! :D I would love that, if you are still interested! :D Don't worry about how long it takes. :) Thank you so much! :D **

Well, Fishlegs found Hiccup. Just not how Astrid or Valka would have expected he had.

"Hiccup!" they shouted almost in perfect unison.

"Hey, guys," he called back. "Glad to see you all still in one piece. Lilya's crazy!"

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?" Astrid shouted.

"Dude, seriously!" said Snotlout.

"Nothing too serious," said Hiccup.

"An arrow," said Fishlegs.

"A WHAT!?" the others exclaimed in unison.

"Yep, you heard right, but it's okay!" said Hiccup.

"No it's not," said Valka.

"Really, Mom, it is," he said.

"Hiccup Horrendous..." said Valka.

"Okay, but we really have to go," said Hiccup before his mother could finish his full name. He had heard it enough from Lilya; he really didn't want to hear it again.

"Noted duly," said Valka. "Astrid, can you fly Toothless?"

"You bet," Astrid answered. She moved Stormfly above the Night Fury, and then jumped down, landing behind Hiccup. "You ready to let me take over, Dragon Boy?"

"Yeah yeah, sure," said Hiccup. Cloudjumper flew beneath Toothless, and Hiccup slid off his back, landing behind his mother. Astrid forced her foot into Toothless' foot pedal and hovered, Stormfly moving to fly above beside her.

Valka turned around so she faced Hiccup, telling Cloudjumper to follow the other dragons back to Berk. While the others led and Cloudjumper followed, Valka wrapped Hiccup's injury and asked him different questions about it.

"So what's the deal with this Lilya girl?" said Valka. "We saw her for a few seconds, and that was enough to see how much she hated you. Is there a justified reason, or is it just meaningless hatred?"

Hiccup was shaking his head even before she stopped speaking. "She hates me because she thought I killed Dagur intentionally," he said. "She was...his sister."

"His sister!?" the others shouted in unison.

Hiccup nodded. "Dagur told me he had one once," he said. "I guess I just didn't think about it too much...ow."

"Sorry," Valka apologized. "She got you good."

"Yeah, yeah she did," said Hiccup. "Or, if she didn't, at least one of her men did. There were around fifty of them. I'm not sure which one shot me, but the arrow didn't sink in very far, so I was able to remove it without much of a problem."

"The bleeding looks like it's stopped," said Valka, tying off the bandage. "You're lucky the arrow didn't go in deeper. And you did a good job of removing it."

"Thanks," he said. "I think."

"So what happened?" said Astrid. "After you learned Lilya was Dagur's sister, what did she do?"

"She tried to kill me," said Hiccup.

"I shouldn't have asked," said Astrid. "I figured she had after you learned the truth."

Hiccup nodded. "After that, I just barely managed to escape," he said. "Her men weren't very good, apparently, because there was one of me and fifty of them, and none of them seemed able to kill me. But they'd do good in war, with multiple targets. When they march on Berk, it will be a fifty to fifty chance on either side, from what I saw."

"So now what?" said Astrid.

"We get back to Berk, and confirm the war Lilya told us about in her message," said Hiccup. "I don't know when Lilya and her men will attack, but we can well assume it won't be long, especially after the events of tonight."

"Agreed," said Valka. "You okay?"

"Fine," Hiccup replied. "It wasn't too big of a wound."

"You're lucky," said Valka for the second time in the course of five minutes. "How does it feel?"

"Ah, you know, pain," said Hiccup. "_Love it_."

Astrid laughed. "We should reach Berk by tomorrow," she said. "We'll take rest on the same sea stack, and then cover the rest of the distance in the morning. It really shouldn't be too much of a difficulty."

"Great!" said Hiccup. "Can I fly Toothless now?"

"No," said Valka. "I don't want the wound reopening."

"_Mom_," Hiccup groaned.

"I'm not letting you back on Toothless either, so you may as well forget it," said Astrid. "You can ride Stormfly." The Nadder squawked, almost mockingly, lifting her snout with pride.

"Thanks, Stormfly," said Hiccup. "You just instill me with confidence."

The others laughed, and then headed to the sea stack in which they had camped the night before. Hiccup decided to stay on Cloudjumper, just because he didn't want to move to Stormfly. He was still tired from the after effects of the dart, not to mention his new wound. After a few hours, they arrived at the sea stack and landed.

"Well, we're here," said Astrid, dismounting Toothless and walking over to Stormfly. Snotlout and Fishlegs dismounted right after she did, patting their dragons as a quick "good job."

"I'll take the watch," Hiccup suggested, sliding off Cloudjumper, Valka doing the same. "Lilya told me she forces dragons to do her bidding sometimes. For all we know, she could have a bunch of them coming after us."

"Oooh no you won't," said Valka. "You get some sleep, and _I _will take the watch."

Hiccup was about to protest, but there was no arguing with her, so he just sighed and nodded. He walked over to Toothless and pet the dragon gently. Toothless sniffed Hiccup's bandages and cooed worriedly, looking up at his rider with concern.

"Yeah, I know, buddy," said Hiccup. "I got hurt, but I'm okay now. Okay?" Toothless didn't seem completely satisfied, but maybe it was just as well. He would have to watch Hiccup all the more closer now.

"Okay, so Valka, wake me up in a little and I'll take over," Snotlout said to his aunt. "I haven't done near enough to help anyone since we started. It's high time I did something."

"Thank you, Snotlout," said Valka. Maybe Hiccup getting hurt finally made Snotlout think about someone other than himself for once. Valka hadn't known Snotlout for very long, but she knew him long enough to be able to tell that he was a prideful, arrogant, slightly ignorant person who normally didn't care about anyone or anything else besides himself and his stuff.

Shortly afterwards, the others were asleep, while Valka watched out for any sign of attackers. Cloudjumper stayed up with his rider, matching Valka's gaze, looking at nothing in particular. Hopefully, the worst was over with.

...

"You let them escape!?" Lilya screamed at one of her soldiers.

"I didn't let them, Lilya the Maniacal, they left!" the guard pleaded. "I didn't know you were looking for them!"

"You blabbering fool!" Lilya shouted. "You just see five dragon riders flying away from here, and you don't find anything suspicious!?"

"I'm sorry, Lilya!" the guard begged.

"Sorry doesn't cut it," said Lilya. "Only swords do. We set sail for Berk tonight!" She turned around and screamed to the other soldiers. "And don't forget to bring the ultimate weapon. We will arrive there in a few days, when the moon is full, and the tide is high. And if _any _one of you sees Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third..._kill him_."

**WHOA WHOA WHOA CLIFFHANGER! Yeah, I'm sorry about that, but I tend to lean on the cliffy side of things. But what about the Berkians on Berk? How are they doing? Will Hiccup be okay? What about the Berserkers? Will they win? What is the "ultimate weapon"? How are the Berkians holding up? How is there different colored cheese like WASSUP WITH THAT!? Okay, I'm done. Stay tuned for chapter 11! **


	11. Chapter 11

**This is my FIRST update today, and HI, I will do two or three more probably. :) A few shout-outs: **

**Jesusfreak: Aha, I like it! Queen Cliffy! :D **

**AnimeAngel: Cheese is so weird, but I like it. *shrugs* **

**Wanli8970: Ah, yes. Lilya the Maniacally Deranged Sister of Dagur the Deranged. Just about sums it up. :) **

**silverwolvesarecool: Um...it really doesn't matter much to me. You can pick your favorite, I don't have a preference. My favorite story that I've written is Remember Me, only I don't know what I want on the cover, so I'll leave the master (you) to decide. :) Thanks for wanting to do this! It means a lot to me. :D **

**TheLastNightFury: Haha! Sorry. You could probably do some too, if you want, for the new stories I start posting. :) **

It had been the same dream every time for the past two months.

But this time, it was different.

Valka had fallen asleep on accident; and now, she had to suffer a nightmare.

_They are on Berk, and Valka is running. She is running, and she doesn't stop. Part of her wants to turn around and see who it is she is running from, but the other part whispers three words: Don't stop running. _

_And so she doesn't stop, but runs faster. Valka is there, but at the same time, she isn't. She feels what her dream self is feeling, but she can't control what her dream self is doing. She feels horror; worry; dread; sadness; terror; scared. Her dream self is scared. Not one trace of happiness lingers in her mind. She keeps running. _

_A noise meets her ears, and she whips around just long enough to see catapults being flung towards the island from giant ships. Valka refocuses her attention out in front of her and ducks as a building is smashed with one of the massive catapult rocks. _

_She skids to a stop and turns around, running in the opposite direction. People are screaming, running to fight against the attackers. Lilya is leading the Berserkers, and Hiccup is leading the Hooligans. Their screams sound like the roar of a dragon; it took Valka that long to realize that it _was _the roar of a dragon. _

_Turning around, Valka sees something she dreads. A massive dragon towers over her, larger than any Bewilderbeast she had ever seen in her entire life. It was about two times the size of the previous Alpha dragon, and much more fierce looking. It was solid red, like the color of blood, tucks sharp and jagged, stretching fifty feet each. And that was the small part of the dragon. _

_And then she sees Hiccup out of the corner of her eye, racing towards Lilya. Just before their swords meet, the scene shifts. _

_Valka is standing on a dark, musty island. Blackened buildings are everywhere, crumpled to the ground, piled in heaps. Ruined; no way fixing any of those things. Valka spins around; smoke is everywhere. Bodies of fallen soldiers lie everywhere, but she doesn't focus on those. _

_She moves to the side, and instantly races forward. Hiccup is lying, so pale he should have been dead, on the ground beside one of the massive heaps of wrecked building. He's dead. Dead. The word races through Valka's mind as she checks frantically for any sign the word is just the opposite of the reality. _

_But it's not. It's the truth. Hiccup is dead. Her son is dead. Dead...Dead...Dead. _

...

Around the same time as Valka, Astrid had a similar dream;

_She is walking through the cove with Hiccup. He has Inferno drawn, and Astrid has her axe, ready to be used. She walks behind Hiccup, willing him to protect her. Her dream self is terrified; worried, and everything in between, but her real self doesn't know why. _

"_We're almost there," Hiccup speaks. His voice is harsh and crackly, just barely audible. "We just have to sneak past the few remaining guards, and then we should be okay." _

_She trusts him and nods, staying close to him as they walk briskly yet silently through the forest. Then, suddenly, there is a sound. Not any sound, though; the sound of people screaming. _

"_FIRE!" one of them shouts. A boulder sails overhead and smashes into one of the mountains on Astrid's left side. This causes many, many rocks to hail down near them, none of them too big. _

_And then suddenly, there is one rock that is bigger than the rest. Astrid looks up as a cracking noise meets her ears. She screams as the rock falls straight towards her, but she can't move out of the way. Just before it smacks her, Hiccup shoves her out of the way, getting smashed himself beneath the rather large boulder. He lays lifeless, the rock covering his legs and lower half of his body. Only his head and an arm jut out from the rock's clutches. _

"_HICCUP!" Astrid screams, rushing towards him. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" _

_Hiccup just barely lifts his head off the ground and speaks four final words: "Take care of Berk"; and then he's gone. _

"_No, HICCUP!" Astrid screams at him, but to no avail. He's dead. Her best friend is dead. And it was because of her. _

_... _

Astrid and Valka both sat up at the exact same moment, different people shaking them. Astrid whacked the person shaking her, then realizing that it was Snotlout. He winced and cradled his cheek.

"You're welcome," he muttered.

Valka sat up and almost slapped whoever was shaking her. Hiccup shrieked and skidded away a good three inches, staring at her with confusion, holding his hands out in front of them as if expecting her to attack.

"Good gosh, Mom!" he shouted. "What _was_ that? You and Astrid were sleeping, and then you started shouting, and then you started screaming! And then Astrid kept shouting my name, and we woke up, and then we woke you guys up, and...Are you okay? What happened?"

Valka looked around, first looking at the terrified eyes of Astrid before seeing all the others standing behind Hiccup, confusion and worry evident on their faces. It was still dark, and morning wasn't close.

"A nightmare," said Valka. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Me neither," said Astrid. It was too horrible, and she especially didn't want Hiccup to know what she had dreamed about.

"Mom, Astrid, I have to know," said Hiccup. "I want to help you both, remember? We all have to know. We're worried for you, and we want to help you."

Valka looked at him. There were actually tears in his eyes. There was no arguing with him at this point; Hiccup made sure of that. "Okay," said Valka. "I'll tell you."

"I guess I will too," said Astrid, knowing Hiccup wasn't going to have it any other way.

And so Valka did. She told them about her dream, and everything that took place in it. The others listened in confusion and wonder, worrying over the nightmare. After Valka told them her story, Astrid told them hers, watching Hiccup's face the entire time, wondering what his reaction would be. Hiccup seemed dumbfounded by it, but nodded. Why did he always die in people's nightmares? It just didn't seem fair.

"You both know it was just a nightmare, right?" he asked Valka and Astrid. They both nodded, but some part of them was really wondering if it were just a dream or not. "Good," said Hiccup, rising to a stand. "It should be a few hours until morning now. We should get a head start."

No one argued; no one had the time or want to. So, they all stood up with Hiccup, mounted their dragons (Hiccup mounting Toothless once more) and then they took off towards Berk.

...

Lilya and her men sailed towards Berk, Lilya's eyes gleaming with the want to kill and destroy. She looked down at the water, seeing their ultimate weapon lurking just beneath the surface.

She put her hand over the waves, and the solid red dragon emanated from them, bumping its nose against her palm. Lilya laughed. She loved forcing dragons to do her bidding. Then, she whacked it with her solid red bullhook that matched the dragon (intentionally or unintentionally, no one knew) and it sank back down into the water.

An Albino Bewilderbeast. Berk wouldn't stand a chance.


	12. Chapter 12

**This is my SECOND update today, and AAAH there's only like, ten more chapters after this, I think! (maybe more, I don't know). :) Shout-outs: **

**silverwolvesarecool: That sounds great to me! Thanks again! :D **

They reached Berk by noon.

The entire near ten hour flight, Hiccup couldn't stop thinking about the dreams Valka and Astrid had went through. He had died in both of them, protecting the village. Maybe, he thought, that was okay. He was fine dying to save someone else, even though he really would hate it.

"Okay, Berk," said Hiccup. "We're back. And just in time. Look."

The Berkians were all clad in armor, weapons at their sides. They were carrying off their usual duties, although they were all ready for war. Ruffnut and Tuffnut waved to Hiccup and the others as they arrived, and then tripped over each other in an attempt to greet them.

They landed their dragons and dismounted. Hiccup gazed around at villagers as they approached him. Ruffnut and Tuffnut finally made it, their Zippleback right behind them.

"So, like, how did it go?" said Tuffnut.

"Better than expected, actually," said Hiccup.

"He was shot," said Astrid.

"On the contrary..."

"There is no contrary," said Valka. "Don't argue, I'm taking you to Gothi's."

"He was shot?" said Ruffnut. "By who?"

"_Whom_," Hiccup corrected.

"If he's well enough to correct our English, I think he's okay," said Tuffnut. "But seriously, who shot you?"

"One of Lilya's maniacs," said Hiccup. "But it's okay, really, it's not too bad."

"I'm still not taking any chances," said Valka. "For all we know, that arrowhead could have been poisoned." Hiccup and Valka mounted their dragons, and then flew off to Gothi's.

"Did it go well?" Ruffnut asked Astrid.

"In honesty?" said Astrid. "Not really. Lilya and her men want Hiccup dead, no questions asked. She told her men that if they even so much as see him, they are to kill him without another question elsewise."

"Not many new people like Hiccup," said Tuffnut. "I don't get it. He's a nice guy."

"Yeah, maybe," said Snotlout.

"How have things been going around here?" said Astrid, walking beside the others and their dragons as they headed to no location in particular.

"Fine, fine," said Ruffnut. "It's been crazy though, what with Hiccup and you guys gone and everyone pacing back and forth all the day long wondering whether or not you were to return, or if you were to be found or reported dead once the battle begins."

"Lilya'll attack soon," said Fishlegs. "And it's not going to be too wonderful when she does. She has three branches, remember, and she leads every one of them, according to what Hiccup told me. She's the commander."

"What happens, if we kill the commander?" said Tuffnut. "Will all the others give up, or what?"

"No idea," said Astrid. "They're as unpredictable as a wild Typhomerang."

"Oh, don't get me _started _on the Typhomerangs," said Tuffnut.

"I guess we won't, then," said Astrid. "So, are all the men ready for war?"

"Yep," said Tuffnut. "They're just waiting for Hiccup's command, and then BOOYAH, war time, baby!"

"Yeah!" his sister agreed. They bashed their heads together. Astrid rolled her eyes.

"_Aaaactually_, war is nothing to be excited about," said Fishlegs.

"It's not?" said Tuffnut. "Whoa, we should send out some apologies."

"Yeah, let's start with Mom," said Ruffnut.

"Guys, you are missing the point," said Astrid.

"No, we get it!" said Tuffnut. "We have to go apologise! Come on, Ruff! Let's go!"

"WAIT!" said Astrid, but they had already mounted their dragons and taken off. "Aaaaand they're gone," Astrid groaned. She turned back to Snotlout, Fishlegs and their dragons.

"What do we do now?" said Snotlout. "I'm bored."

"We get ready for war," said Astrid. "Lilya and her men will be here, and soon. Maybe in a few days, depending on when they left Hysteria."

...

"Lilya the Maniacal," one of her soldiers chimed in a sing-song voice. Lilya turned in his direction and grinned.

"I suppose you bring me good news, Captain Gorge," she said.

"I do," said Captain Gorge. "We should reach Berk in approximately three days if all goes well."

"Perfect," said Lilya, putting her hands together. "Have the other two islands replied to my letters sent by the Terrors?"

"Yes, actually, they have," said Captain Gorge. "They are both on their way. We should meet up with them when we pass Dragon Island. And then, we will finish the trip to Berk."

"Good," said Lilya. "And then we will make Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, and all those who follow him, pay for what they did to Dagur. Men, row faster!" She ordered. "Faster! I want to get to Berk as soon as possible! Maybe even sooner!"

The men didn't hesitate, rowing as fast as their arms would allow. Lilya looked back down at the huge, albino Bewilderbeast lurking in the water below their ships, waiting for an attack command from Lilya.

"Don't worry," said Lilya. "As soon as we march on Berk, I'll let you do your thing. And then we will make sure Hiccup and the Berkians never so much as think about planning another attack against Berserk ever again. Well, they won't have a choice. They'll all be dead." She smiled and then turned back to the sea ahead of her. Not too much longer now. She would avenge her brother, and have revenge on the one who killed him.

...

Gothi wrapped more gauze around Hiccup's stomach, approving of Hiccup's work removing it, telling him (through writing on the ground) that he had done a good job under short notice.

After that, Gothi took her staff again and wrote on the ground for Valka.

"She says it didn't hit any organs or anything, so you are pretty much okay," she read to Hiccup. "The wound has already sealed. It wasn't too big of an arrow, judging by the wound. She says you were lucky."

Hiccup slipped his shirt back over his head and took to putting his armor on again.

"Yep, lucky," said Hiccup. "Now we just have Lilya to worry about and deal with."

"Don't worry about it too much," said Valka. "Gothi says you're still not completely healed. It'll be a few more days before you can do anything strenuous, and even then maybe that's too soon."

Hiccup waved it off. "Okay, a few more days," he said. "And then I'll go back to being my crazy self." He smiled, and Valka smiled back.

"We should call another meeting, make sure everyone's ready," said Hiccup. "Lilya is coming, and boy is she mad."


	13. Chapter 13

**This is my THIRD update today, and really, this is where it gets even more insane. :) Shout-outs: **

**silverwolvesarecool: COOL! Thanks again! **

**EVERYONE ELSE: My e-mail hasn't been loading all my e-mails lately; some of them are just, like, not there, and my e-mails are how I see the reviews, and everything, so I'll try to get back to doing shout-outs to everyone probably in the next chapter. See you next time! **

And so the meeting was called the very next day. The Berkians gathered in heaps inside the Great Hall, bustling and whispering in hushed tones, wondering what their chief was going to decide. Astrid already had an idea, but she wasn't sure.

Hiccup looked at the vast array of Hooligans. They were big in number, and experienced fighters. They lived in a time when dragons were the enemies. They definitely had plenty of practice as far as war went.

As soon as everyone quieted down long enough for Hiccup to get a word out and through their heads, he spoke.

"Lilya is coming," he said, "as most of you well know. She is especially angry at me, wanting me dead before any of you. Maybe that's our advantage."

"How is that an advantage, son?" Valka asked.

"They'll all go for me," said Hiccup. "The rest of you will go for the strongest men first. Let me take Lilya though. She's more experienced than you would think." He remembered the very few short minutes he had fought her in that room back on Hysteria. He shuddered at the memory. If he hadn't had his shield, she would have killed him for sure. "She doesn't think before she acts, which is also an advantage," Hiccup went on. "Gobber, what I need you to do is get all the children under the age of fifteen into the abandoned Whispering Death Tunnels. Any elders will go with them. Healers will wait at the Great Hall for my commands. Soldiers, prepare battle lines on the shore at Thor's Beach. Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, you three are going to be our scouts. If you see anything at all, notify me right away. You three are dismissed to get a jump on it."

"You got it, Chief," said Tuffnut. He, Ruffnut, and Fishlegs ran off, slamming the door behind them.

"Lilya is coming, whether we like it or not," said Hiccup. "There's nothing we can do about it. And she's not going to want to sit around and discuss the matters over tea, either. She's coming with war."

"Who is this Lilya?" said Eret. "You said you would go learn from her. What did you learn?"

"Lilya the Maniacal is Dagur the Deranged's sister," said Hiccup. The crowd gasped. Before they could all start talking at once, Hiccup continued; "She wants revenge on me for killing Dagur, her brother. She has taken her place as Chief of all the Berserkers, and they don't take her orders lightly. Whatever she says, they _will _do, I promise you that, no matter how crazy it gets."

"This is outrageous!" one of the villagers shouted. "We're not ready for a war! We just got through with a war!"

"War waits for no one," said Hiccup. "We will have to be ready. We have the dragons, and we aren't afraid to use them. None of you forget that. We are Hooligans, Berkians!" Hiccup shouted. "We are those who withstood every single dragon attack for the last three hundred years, while we were at war with them! Berk withstood. The Hooligans remained. We can take on the army of a maniacal girl. Am I right?"

"YES!" Gustav Larson shouted. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Hiccup smiled in Gustav's direction and then looked to the rest of the village, looking torn between agreeing and disagreeing. "Everyone else, what is your answer, yes or no?" Hiccup asked.

They shouted a _YES, _which actually sounded more like the roar of a dragon than an actual word, but it was all just as well.

"Good!" said Hiccup. "Then let's get ready to take Lilya down! To your-"

"CHIEF!" shouted Tuffnut, running back into the Great Hall. "I thought you might want to know...I spotted some of Lilya's ships, coming right for us."

"Already?" Hiccup shouted, running forward. He ran out the door, followed by the other Berkian soldiers. Surely enough, there they were; fifty war ships, heading straight in the direction of Berk.

Instantly, it broke into chaos. Everyone started shouting in alarm and screaming, talking so fast and yelling so many questions it was enough to make anyone's head spin.

"Toothless, can you help me bud?" said Hiccup. The Night Fury nodded and fired a single plasma blast. It hit the ground with a sonic _BOOM_ that made everyone stop and listen.

"I know a lot of you are terrified and confused," said Hiccup. "So am I. I wish we have had more time before now, but this is war. This is war. War is unexpected in most causes, and unpredictable in all. It is about a fifty to fifty chance for either side. We could win or we could lose. We could live or we could die. I want your word. Your rock solid word, that no matter how crazy it gets, you will not give up. You will NOT surrender! What are we!?"

"BERKIANS!" the others shouted in reply.

"EXACTLY!" Hiccup shouted. "Everyone, head to Thor's Beach! I'll meet you there! That's where Lilya's ships are heading, if you look at the direction they're turned. Once you get there, line up, the best fighters in the front, the weaker in the back. Lilya won't wait for us to get ready. Gobber, do as I told you to do earlier. Healers, you as well. Get to your stations! Go, go, go!"

People scattered in all directions, a majority of them heading for Thor's Beach, as directed. Valka and Astrid ran up to Hiccup after all the others had gone, staring at him with anxiety.

"What?" said Hiccup. "What did I do?"

"You didn't give us any specific tasks," said Astrid. "What do we do?"

"Okay," said Hiccup. "Mom, I need you to go with the Healers and help them. You know more about herbs than most. Astrid, go help her."

"What?" said Astrid. "No, I'm coming with-"

"Astrid," said Hiccup. "Lilya wants to make me suffer. And a way she could do that is by hurting you."

"I don't _care_," said Astrid. "You need my help."

"You can help me most by staying here," said Hiccup. "Please, Astrid. I can't...you just have to stay here. When it mellows out you can come back."

"No," Astrid refused. "I will _NOT _stay here while you go risk your life."

"Astrid-"

"You know there's no keeping me behind," said Astrid. "Might as well stop trying to."

"Ah...FINE!" Hiccup yelled. "Go to Thor's Beach." She turned and ran off with a smile on her face, and then Hiccup started to follow.

"Hiccup!" Valka called out to him.

He stopped in mid-step and turned around.

"Yeah?" said Hiccup.

"Be careful," said Valka. "Please be careful."

"I will," said Hiccup. "And you too, Mom."

He gave her a smile and then headed off. He would try to be careful, he really would. He just didn't know how it would turn out.


	14. Chapter 14

**This is my FIRST update today, and y'know, I just learned how to make the little line-thingies that signify a scene change! And SSSSOOOOO, I USED IT! I AM HAPPY! :D **

**On another note, enjoy the chapter! :) **

Lilya looked at the Albino Bewilderbeast in the water below her. She didn't know what kind of dragon it was; Bewilderbeasts didn't have wings. But this one did. It was bigger than a normal sized Bewilderbeast, too, and solid red. Who knew what it was?

Despite its size, Lilya knew it was fast. Maybe even fast enough to outfly a Night Fury...the fastest dragon out there besides maybe a Speed Stinger.

"You wait in the water while we draw the first fight," said Lilya to her dragon in a sing-song tone. "Then, after I activate the..._plan _on Hiccup, I will call a three day cease fire. After that, when the war picks up again, you will do your thing. We will take Hiccup and the Berkians out for good."

The dragon grumbled in agreement. He may have been a slave, but he still liked the feel of war. And this was war. This was going to be a war like no one would believe. And then, he would do his thing.

Kill Hiccup.

* * *

><p>The sand shifted beneath his feet - foot, more like - as he ran behind Astrid. His prosthetic made it hard to run any day, and now running on a sandy beach made it harder, but he somehow managed it with ease. He had had his prosthetic for nearly six years; he had pretty much gotten used to it.<p>

The Berkians had already lined up, watching as Lilya's ships got closer and closer to the shore. A few more minutes, and they would arrive. They would arrive, and the war would commence. A war like none other, possibly even bigger than the war with the Berserkers when Dagur was living that came which seemed so long ago.

Hiccup took his place in front of the Berkians, drawing Inferno in one hand, keeping his Gronckle Iron shield securely held in his right one. He eyed the soldiers, looking ready for war, yet at the same time, wondering what war would bring, hoping it didn't lead to their very deaths.

"Berkians..." Hiccup paced slowly back and forth in front of them, eying each soldier as he spoke, "I understand war. I have seen war. Maybe not as much as you. I'm twice as young as half of you, and thrice as old as twice of you."

There were murmurs of confusion and questions for a few seconds.

_You could have done better, _Hiccup mentally chided himself.

"Lilya and her men are attacking," said Hiccup. "A few more minutes, and we will be in a literal war. I will give it to you as it is. There is a fifty to fifty chance, as most of you already know from what I told you earlier. Lilya and her soldiers want me dead first. While they're targeting me, I want you all to...just...do your best. Try your hardest. If you give it your best shot, we can do it. We will do it. We will defeat Lilya. We will take a stand. We will do what other people cannot do. We will not fail. We will prevail. Are you with me!?"

"YEEEEES!" the Berkians screamed, again sounding like a roaring dragon. Toothless and the row of dragons behind their Alpha roared and blasted fire into the air.

"Then let's give it to them!" said Hiccup.

As if on cue, Lilya's ships met the beach. A plank was lowered from the ship, and then the men ran out in all their fury.

"DEATH OR GLORY!" Hiccup shouted.

The two armies charged.

Metal hit metal with horrendous clanks and hideous scratches. Astrid, Hiccup, and the other Berkian soldiers fought like mad for their very lives. That was the stake of it. Their lives. They failed, and they died. It was enough to get anyone fighting.

Astrid took Lilya first. She knew the maniacal girl would go for Hiccup first, so she knew she needed to protect him. Maybe that way, Lilya wouldn't have a chance of killing her. Astrid screamed in fury and charged.

Lilya had expected her to do exactly that. She parried with Astrid, sheathed her sword, and then pulled a dart out of her pocket. It was blue in color, darker than the ocean. Before Astrid could take advantage of the fact that Lilya was only armed with a shield (which wasn't exactly a weapon), Lilya stuck the dart in Astrid's leg. The Berkian girl screamed and collapsed. Before she could do anything else, she felt her consciousness leave her.

"ASTRID!" Hiccup shouted. Hiccup hated war, yet he often times wasn't given a choice. He saw Lilya in the crowd of soldiers, blonde hair as messy as ever, shield in one hand, sword in the other, having redrawn it. Astrid laid unconscious on the battlefield in front of Lilya. As crazy as it may have been, Hiccup ran towards her.

Hiccup felt a rage he didn't know he had in him the minute he watched Astrid fall. He had known it a few times in the past, just had never acted accordingly. He could almost feel his anger rise in his throat as he screamed and charged.

He sheathed Inferno at the last second and triggered the crossbow mechanism on his shield. He drew an arrow from his quiver, loaded it in the weapon, and fired it at the Berserker chief. Lilya easily deflected the arrow off her own shield, and then grinned..._maniacally_, as her name implied she was.

"Not bad," said Lilya. "Not a bad first move at all. For a Berkian, of course. I, on the other hand, have a much better idea. You showed me your first attack, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. Now let me show you mine." On her shield, she pulled a trigger of her own. The shield turned into a crossbow, only instead of an arrow, she loaded a dart. "Dagur told me about your little invention," said Lilya. "I managed to make one of my own."

"Oh _come on_," Hiccup groaned. Lilya fired her dart. Hiccup dodged the first one with surprising ease, but Lilya had another one loaded before he even hit his feet again. He dodged a second time, turning his crossbow back into a shield and using it for defense. Lilya cackled like a dying dragon and fired another dart. Hiccup jumped out of the way just in time. She fired, he jumped. She fired, he dodged. She fired, he dove, until eventually, his luck ran out, just as he knew it would.

On one of her rapid fire sessions, Lilya had managed an accurate shot. Hiccup screamed as the dart hit his shoulder, sinking in just slightly. It wasn't at all like an arrow, like that last one Lilya had hit him with two days before; no, this was an actual dart, like the sleeping one she had hit him with before. It was solid black; different color than the first and second ones, too.

He grabbed it and yanked it out of his shoulder, screaming again. He tossed it to the ground without hesitation, and then felt something strange. He felt his energy leave him like a rush of wind, making it impossible to stand. He fell to his knees and dropped his sword and shield, hearing them clatter on the battlefield. He heard Lilya laugh again, seeing her blurry figure standing over him in triumph.

"I could kill you now, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," said Lilya with a sneer, "like I almost killed you on Hysteria. But since then, I have come up with a new plan. A brand, new plan. That dart that hit Astrid will only make her lose consciousness for a little while. The dart I hit you with, ooooh..." She clicked her tongue a few times. "It will make you weak, unable to move. You will be useless to your people, and then when it finally wears off in about two or three days, you will see my ultimate weapon."

"Ultimate weapon," Hiccup spat the words out as if they were toxic. He could feel his consciousness leaving him, little by little. He was less and less aware, yet forced himself to speak. "Don't care to know, thank you very much."

"I wasn't asking for your permission," said Lilya. "Your permission means nothing to me, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. I need it not to lay siege on your island and sit back while my men win the war you so pathetically attempted to even out. Just wait and see, Hiccup. See how you failed your people. See how you failed yourself."

"I didn't...mean for Dagur to...die," Hiccup choked. It was getting harder and harder to stay awake, but he forced himself to continue, mainly because he was stubborn. "I wouldn't...have done it...intentionally...just to...hurt you, Lilya."

"I don't care!" Lilya shouted. "I've listened to you plead for your life far too many times! I'm tired of listening to your lies, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. You killed my brother, and you know it. You weren't thinking about any family he might have had. You weren't thinking about his people. You were only thinking about yourself. Your own...foolish...self. That's what you are. A fool." She laughed again. "Enjoy your unconsciousness, Hiccup. And then, enjoy watching your island fall to pieces after you wake up again. I'm calling a three day cease fire, so don't worry. You won't be awake to hear it, though. See you in a couple of days, Hiccup. Enjoy the peace while it lasts."

That was it. Hiccup couldn't stay awake any longer. He moaned and put his head down, finally scumbing to the unconsciousness that seemed to beckon him in like a boat to a lighthouse. He didn't know when he would wake up, if at all. He didn't know what Lilya was talking about. He didn't know anything at that moment.

He could only hope everything else was going okay.


	15. Chapter 15

**OKAY OKAY so I just want you all to know that this is a really angst chapter, and I would have updated sooner, but then our power went out for like, FIVE HOURS, and I couldn't do nutin', but here's a chapter. I should post chapter 16 shortly afterwards, and quite possibly chapter 17. I kind of miss doing more than three chapters a day. :) **

Lilya smiled as Hiccup finally lost the battle over his consciousness. Once making sure no one was looking, she grabbed his ankle and yanked him away from the battlefield, seeking to hide him from his people. No one saw her do it; she could get away with it easily. Once she made sure Hiccup was in a decent hiding spot, she ran forward and screamed a loud, pronounced "STOP!" to both her army and the Berkian army.

The Berkians stopped fighting once they realized no one else was. Maybe it was foolish to do so, but the Berkians didn't attack people who weren't able to fight back. Hiccup had told them that Lilya's people would follow her orders no matter how crazy it got, meaning they would never fight back.

"I am giving you Berkians three days to regroup, get yourselves ready again," said Lilya. "I don't know what your Chief, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third had in store for you all, but rest assure, he won't be helping you with any more plans any time soon."

People gasped, instantly whispering amongst each other.

"NOW," Lilya shouted, "I want you to know that I have not kidnapped him. On my very life, I promise I haven't captured him or taken him prisoner. My soldiers will leave and return in three days. By then, I hope you Berkians have had some sense put into you." She turned on her heels, not waiting for a reply. Her soldiers followed her closely, back into their ships, and then out to sea. None of the Berkians noticed the gigantic dragon following them in the ocean; no one had time to care.

Snotlout ran up in front of the Berkians as soon as Lilya and the Berserkers were far away enough for a safe distance.

"Search parties," said Snotlout. "Get all the wounded to the Great Hall. We will sent out other search parties to look for Hiccup." He couldn't believe his cousin was missing, but he really didn't have much time to think about it either way. If Hiccup wasn't there, Astrid was unconscious, and Valka wasn't present, who else would take charge if not him? "Well, what are you waiting for!?" Snotlout growled. "Go, go, go!"

The men went off without another word, some back to get stretchers, others to seek out the injured. Not many had been hurt on Berk's side, and all Lilya's men, hurt and unhurt, were back on her ships.

This was going to be a long day.

...

Valka was worried when Hiccup went off to war, but now she was worried when he hadn't returned. People ran through the village and Valka watched from the Great Hall as they searched for stretchers and even crafted some makeshift ones themselves. She didn't see Hiccup at all.

The previous night, she had had another nightmare, the same one as the last nightmare she had on the sea stack. Hiccup had died in a battle, they had found his body. She couldn't have let that happen to her. Not to her son. Not to her _one and only _son.

Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut burst through the door of the Great Hall, holding them open as wounded and unconscious soldiers were carried in on stretchers. After getting them situated with Healers, just before the others left, Valka called to them.

"Where's Hiccup?" she asked.

"We're going to look for him now," said Fishlegs.

"Look for him?" Valka asked. This wasn't good. Was it her dream...? A dream come true? Not in the good way. You know, nightmares are dreams, too.

"He's missing," said Fishlegs.

"MISSING!?" Valka shouted. Before they could answer, she pushed passed them and ran towards Thor's Beach. She had to find him. She just had to. She couldn't lose him, too. Not after Stoick. Not after everything they went through with Drago. Not after the events with Dagur. Not after everything that had happened those two months. Not after...

She ran to the beach, her mind racing like a Speed Stinger fighting for its next meal. People were still getting the hurt back on stretchers, but there were far less people there than earlier. Valka searched everywhere on the beach for any sign of Hiccup. Any sign at all. She found his sword and shield, but that didn't exactly help. She left them where they were after finding them. She could care less about his weapons. It was _him _she was looking for and worried about.

More people came to help her search. More people came and went at different times. They searched the battlefield all day, until eventually, the others went to get some rest while Valka remained, searching frantically for her son.

She had found nothing in the course of hours upon hours. She didn't even return to the village in the night. She searched straight through, not thinking about herself; not thinking about the fact that it was freezing; not thinking about the fact that she was exhausted; not thinking about anything but one thing and one thing only.

Her son.

Valka looked and looked until she was certain she had searched the entire beach. Cloudjumper tried to sniff him out, but there was something throwing off Hiccup's trail. For some reason, no tracker dragon could sniff him out, growling and snarling whenever they tried.

It wasn't hard to understand why, because if Lilya had used another dart on him like she had the sleeping dart, it would have thrown off any dragon's trails. But that worried her even more, possibly, if that was even possible at the time. She didn't think she could have been more worried than she was at that time.

She looked around with her torch, looking and searching for the son she had only recently got back. It had been nearly a year since she and him had been reunited; she wasn't ready to say goodbye. She would _never _be really ready to say goodbye. Especially not like this. Not when she had been doing nothing to try and prevent it. Not when her nightmares had showed her horrible images she would never forget. Not after all the dangers. Not after Stoick. _Especially _not after Stoick.

As the night wore on, so did Valka's strength. It was dawn when Snotlout came, finding her on her knees, tears running down her face. He had been hesitant at first, and then approached his aunt as slowly and calmly as possible.

"Valka..." said Snotlout. "You've been out here all night."

"Thank you, I didn't know that," said Valka. It wasn't a wonder where Hiccup had gotten his sarcasm from. She tried not to be sarcastic, especially when Snotlout was only trying to help, but at the moment, Snotlout was doing anything but.

"No one can find him," said Snotlout. "I tried to get Hookfang to look for him, and I also tried Stormfly, but she doesn't listen to me, and Astrid's unconscious."

Maybe Valka should have cared that Astrid wasn't conscious, but at that point, there was only one thing that kept coming back at her; one thing that she truly, really cared about. Nothing else mattered to her at that point, as long as she found Hiccup.

Missing. That was a horrible word when it came to someone and spoke of someone you loved. For Valka, that was Hiccup. As she thought more and more about it, her mind took darker turns. Maybe she wouldn't find him. Maybe Lilya had killed him. Maybe...just maybe...

...maybe she would never see him again.

She stood up and followed Snotlout back to the Great Hall, her mind filled with anger towards Lilya, and then to herself for giving up.


	16. Chapter 16

**OKAY OKAY so this chapter actually means quite a bit to me. I really loved writing this, and...yeah, it's pretty self-explanatory, actually. :) This is my THIRD update today, and enjoy the chapter! :D **

While waking up, Astrid knew something was off. She had been knocked unconscious on the battle field. Now, she was lying on the floor of the Great Hall, listening to footsteps and people speaking in hushed tones.

Healers, she realized, staring up at the roof. Somehow, she had wound up with the Healers. She sat up, her mind instantly drawn to Hiccup. Where was he? Had he gotten out? Was he alright?

"Astrid, you're awake," said Valka, moving over. "Do you remember anything?"

Yeah, she remembered something. "Where's Hiccup?" she asked instantly.

"He's...missing," said Valka.

"WHAT!?" Astrid shouted. "What do you mean _MISSING_!?"

"Lilya called a cease fire," said Valka. "She said she wanted to give us time to regroup, since she had done something to our chief. We haven't found Hiccup since, but Lilya didn't take him, or anything. He's missing on the battlefield, either dead or alive, we don't know."

"And you guys are sitting here doing _nothing!?" _Astrid shouted.

"We've looked for him nearly two days!" said Valka. "You've been unconscious for two days, Astrid. The cease fire was meant to last three. We spent the entire first two days searching, but we couldn't find anything. A few men are still looking, but nothing has been found yet."

Astrid stood up suddenly, not even wavering. This was enough. Lilya had hurt too many people already, and that was bad enough, but Hiccup...? To Astrid, that was almost as personal as Lilya hurting _her_. Without hesitation, she jumped to her feet and made for the door. She grabbed a cape-like cloak on her way out, and then ran out the door. Valka didn't stop her, which made her pleased. No need to make it any harder than it already was.

Besides, she had a friend to find.

She raced down the steps and ran towards Thor's Beach, her mind running wild. What had Lilya done to him, if anything? Was he alive? Was he dead? Was he even on Berk at all? Valka had said he hadn't been kidnapped, but who knew what Lilya was capable of? Astrid ran, her anger pushing her on, making her forget about her headache and just about everything else. Her hatred towards the person who lead the attack against Berk filled her with more rage than she was known for. She drew her axe, just in case one of Lilya's men was hiding somewhere.

She hoped in some sick twisted way that one of her men would attack her first, just so she would have an excuse. Just so she could fight back, and no one would judge her. She wanted to make Lilya and her soldiers pay for every Hooligan they hurt; every Berkian they killed; every person they made suffer.

The weather was good, the sun bright in the sky, the ocean lapping against the shore. Astrid kicked the water in fury and anger as she raced by it, but the water only returned to its usual spot, almost taunting her, trying to tempt her to kick harder. Which she did. She kicked it a second time, letting her rage control her; letting her emotions take charge. She kicked a third, fourth, and then fifth time in a rapid session before she realized the ocean didn't care what she did to it.

She kicked a rock and jumped over a larger one as she ran. She broke into a jog when her headache became too much, but never stopped moving. She continued to run; she continued to jog; she even skipped, and then galloped at one point or another before breaking back into a run. She couldn't waste time. There was no time to even waste.

She ran. She ran until she reached Thor's Beach, and didn't stop. She ran, looking behind rocks and in shadows. She ran. She ran. She ran like her life depended on it. Moreover, Hiccup's life depended on it. She looked out and saw Lilya's ships lurking in the ocean ahead, just barely in view. She resisted the urge to take a sailboat out and just bring Lilya to justice there and then. Hiccup first, revenge later. That was they way it would have had to work at that time.

She drew her axe in case one of Lilya's spies were watching her every move, waiting for the perfect opportunity to jump out and fight. Astrid was ready for it; she was ready to defend herself, her friends, and her village. She was ready to do anything. She was ready to battle. She was ready for war. She was ready to _fight_.

As she searched the beach, a new thought occurred to her. Maybe Hiccup wasn't even on Thor's Beach? Maybe he was fighting Lilya somewhere else? Maybe he was somewhere else as a whole? Maybe he was hurt and had tried to get back to the Great Hall, only to collapse half-way there and pass out. It was a possibility.

With a new hope, she ran into the closest place off Thor's Beach: Raven Point. She ran through Raven Point forest, searching everywhere for her friend and Chief. More importantly, though, her friend. Hiccup was her friend. He was her _best _friend. More than that possibly. She had known him ever so slightly for the first fifteen years of his life, just because he was the son of the Chief, and then nearly six years after that, she had got to _really _know him. She didn't want him to die. She didn't think she would have been able to take living without him.

She continued to run through Raven Point, searching behind rocks, in front of trees; she actually looked in a tree two or three times. I mean, you never know. She certainly didn't. Besides, if Hiccup was hurt and trying to find a place to hide, maybe in a tree would have been a good option.

Then again, even if he was hurt severely, he wouldn't have left his people to take care of Lilya alone. No, he would have stayed and fought beside the Berkians even if it killed him to do so. He was stubbornly brave like that. It was annoying sometimes.

She turned around, and instantly, any thought of war she had previously vanished into thin air as if it had never existed. Her anger shriveled down into something small and manageable she could hold onto for the time being. It wasn't gone, oh no, not by a long shot; just simply shrunken. She dropped her axe, and raced forward.

"Hiccup," she breathed. "Hiccup?"

She ran again, gasping for breath as she collapsed to her knees by his side. There were rocks on top of him; she shoved them off as fast as she could. They weren't very heavy, which made the task all the easier. He was behind a rock, lying face down, almost as if he had been hidden by someone else. She didn't have time to think about it too much, though. He looked unhurt for the most part, but that didn't mean he looked in perfect health, either.

She turned him over on his back, and then pulled him into her arms, brushing his bangs out of his face and looking for any sign that he was alive. He was so pale it was hard to believe he was actually breathing, and at first, Astrid was afraid she was imagining the weak rise and fall of his chest until he cracked his eyes open, just barely enough for her to see the emerald color that they were.

"Astrid..." he whispered in a broken, just barely audible voice.

"Yes, I'm here," said Astrid.

"Astrid...I knew you'd come," he said as if he'd had no doubt, although his voice was still choppy, broken sounding, and small. Astrid remained dumbfounded, not knowing exactly how to reply to that last sentence. She did, however, know how to reply to Hiccup's next question. "Are you...are you going to bury me?"

"No, Hiccup," said Astrid, giving a sad, worried smile. "I'm going to take care of you. I promise." She took the cloak off her shoulders and covered him with it. The paleness of his skin was getting to her in a way she didn't think possible. He shouldn't have been that pale. _No one _should have been that pale.

"D-don't leave me, okay?" he asked.

"Never," she replied. "_Never_."

**Sorry for that little blob of feels there. I've been wanting to do something like this in a story for quite some time now. I just love the thought that Astrid actually really, really cares about Hiccup, and would totally freak out if something happens to him. I want there to be an episode in the new season where Hiccup gets hurt and Astrid has to take care of him. I don't know, maybe it's just me. *shrugs* **


	17. Chapter 17

**I think that last chapter was my favorite out of all the ones in this story so far. :) This is my FIRST update today, and...yeah. Shout-outs: **

**silverwolvesarecool: DON'T YOU DARE DIE, HICCUP. IF YOU DIE ASTRID WILL KILL YOU.**

**xFaerieValkyriex: YES I wanna see more Hiccup-hurt-Astrid-worried stuff in the new season. They don't even need to show Hiccup getting hurt if they don't want to. They can open the episode with him already injured. *shrugs* Ahh, I ramble a little too much sometimes. I love seeing Astrid's caring side, especially when it comes to Hiccup, because really, she _does _care about him. :)**

**Paloma2323: Yeah, I know what you mean. I think the last seasons were made for more of a younger audience. I really hope there will be some _serious, life-threatening _danger in seasons three and four, or I'll be a bit disappointed. Thank you for the review! :D**

**Jesusfreak: I guess you'll have to wait and see! :D And yes, Hiccstrid feels...GAH!**

Astrid waited at Raven Point for someone to come looking for them. Valka had told her there were still a few people searching; maybe they would come close enough to the forest for her to shout for help. At that point, some help would have been appreciated.

"H-how are the others?" Hiccup whispered.

"Fine, now stop talking and sleep," said Astrid.

"Is that an order?"

"Yes that is an order."

"_Oh_."

She groaned once a silence settled between the two of them. At that moment, she didn't want to stay silent, she wanted to talk, even if Hiccup wasn't able to reply. So, she just started rambling. She told him, indirectly or directly, however you want to put it, about how worried everyone appeared. She recounted all the best times in training out loud without hardly thinking about doing so. She spoke, not even pondering the words she was saying. She didn't know if Hiccup was listening or not, but she continued on anyways. Sometimes, silence was one of the loudest things of all. And at that point, she couldn't stand it.

"Yeah, and that time we went snowboarding on Toothless and Stormfly, and then the avalanche trapped us in that ice cave," Astrid actually laughed slightly at the memory. "That was hilarious and at the same time, slightly embarrassing."

"You punched me, remember?" said Hiccup.

"Hey, I told you to go to sleep," said Astrid.

"Fine, fine," said Hiccup. "Proceed."

So he _was _listening. Okay, so she had an audience. Didn't matter much to her. She couldn't stay silent anyways, even if she had wanted to. "And then Stormfly and Toothless saved us, and then we tried to show the animals not to be afraid of dragons..." Her voice trailed off, and she found herself smiling, despite the situation. She considered calling to Stormfly at that time and getting some help, but at that moment, she didn't want to try to risk getting Hiccup on a dragon, especially if he was hurt. "That was a fun day, albeit a little strange." Hiccup didn't respond, which was either by his own doing, or the fact that he could have been asleep.

Astrid continued; "Or what about the time you got yourself struck by lightning?"

"That wasn't fun...oh, yeah, I'm supposed to be asleep," said Hiccup. "Don't remind me, continue."

"Okay," said Astrid. "Or what about that time Dagur the Deranged came back to Berk to renew the treaty? Oh, that was a fun day. You know that's sarcasm, right?"

Hiccup nodded weakly. "You got it from me."

"No talking," she said.

"But you just asked me a question!" said Hiccup.

"I was trying to see if you were still awake," said Astrid. "You're supposed to be sleeping. Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"Because you're not boring," said Hiccup.

"Should I bore you?" said Astrid.

"I'd like to see you try," Hiccup almost challenged. His voice was absent of his usual "I-dare-you-to" tone it always had when saying something as he had just said to Astrid. It worried her slightly, even more so than she already was, if that was even possible, but it wasn't like it was unexpected. In fact, she had quite expected it herself.

"Why'd you stop?" Hiccup asked. "I like hearing you talk. It's not boring."

Maybe she should have stopped talking, since it was obvious that was what was keeping him awake, but she couldn't have stayed silent, and Hiccup wouldn't have either if she had. He would have kept rambling about her rambling until she finally threw in the towel and started yapping again. She continued to mention random subjects, like dragon training, the early days at the Academy, that time Ruffnut and Tuffnut fell face first into that barrel and got themselves trapped (and no one was surprised). Hiccup didn't speak much, except for an occasional "Yes" or question.

She lost count of how long they were in Raven Point. Eventually, Hiccup did fall asleep, leaving her alone with her thoughts and her wonders. He was okay, then. She looked around, waiting for one of the Berkian soldiers to come back and look for them. But they never seemed to come. And when they did, they were too far away for her to shout at them.

She waited and thought about Lilya and her men. Valka had said it had been two days since the battle, and the cease fire was lasting three. That meant that tomorrow, they would get back to war. But what about Hiccup? At that point, he didn't seem well enough to even so much as stand, much less charge out and lead an army into battle. Astrid was sure it was just another one of Lilya's darts, but there was no way for her to be absolutely certain unless Hiccup told her.

"It was a dart," said Hiccup.

"How did you know that was what I was thinking?" said Astrid.

"You were thinking out loud," said Hiccup. "I heard all of that."

"_Oh_," Astrid mentally smacked herself. "Wait a minute!" she said. "You're supposed to be-"

"Asleep, I know, Astrid," said Hiccup. "I just couldn't help overhearing. You shouldn't be worried about me. Lilya told me that the dart whatever-it-was would make me just really weak and maybe sick, but she also told me it would wear off in two to three days at the most. It's already been two, according to what you just said." It didn't seem exactly right to him. He was out for _two days? _Still, it was obvious that it had happened, and there was no changing reality.

"Well, it better wear off soon," said Astrid. "Or else I'll find Lilya, and make her take one of the darts in her arm herself. Maybe she deserves it."

"She's just mad at me for killing Dagur," said Hiccup.

"But you really _didn't _kill Dagur," said Astrid. "You weren't the one who killed him yourself. Dagur fought _you_. Dagur brought _you _into war. Dagur...captured..._you_. Well, you and Valka, anyways. But that's not important. He lost his footing and fell off a cliff, Hiccup. What can you do about that?"

"I don't know." He was actually at a loss of words. He wanted to continue the conversation, but there wasn't more to have been said about Dagur. He was dead, Lilya was mad, Hiccup was in for it. That was about the whole story of Lilya, Dagur and Hiccup.

"You should still probably try to rest," said Astrid. "It'd make me feel better."

"Sure," said Hiccup. "As long as you continue to ramble."

"I don't ramble," said Astrid.

"Sure you do," said Hiccup.

"Only because I got it from you," said Astrid.

"I will take that as a compliment," said Hiccup. "You've learned from the _master!_"

"You bet," said Astrid, "because no one rambles like Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third."

"_Exactly_," said Hiccup. "Wait what?"

Astrid grinned and rolled her eyes. "Get some sleep," she smiled, genuinely, for the first time in the past while. Hiccup smiled back, a little bit of color returning to his face, before he finally fell asleep. For real this time.

Before Astrid could do or say anything else, she heard someone shouting her name. She quickly recognized the voice. Valka.

"Astrid!" she shouted. "Where are you?" Her voice was frantic and faint, getting quieter and more distant by the syllable. It was then that Astrid actually wondered, how long had she been sitting there with Hiccup? She actually didn't know. But Valka was looking for them, and she could help Hiccup.

"Valka!" Astrid shouted. Hiccup stirred slightly at her yelling, but didn't wake up. "Valka, I found Hiccup!"


	18. Chapter 18

**Yowza, sorry 'bout that last cliffy thingy I didy therey. I'm in a Y mood. I don't know _Y _I am, though. LOL! :D Sorry, I love puns, and I can't help it. :) This is my SECOND update today, and I hope you are all enjoying the story so far! It should be over in a few days! (I can't believe it!) BYE!**

Needless to say, Valka was relieved. Searching for any sign of Hiccup for so long, and then having Astrid vanish for nearly an hour had both been a little bit too much for her. And then hearing Astrid shout, meaning she was okay, but not only that, she had found _Hiccup_, was a double pleasure for Valka.

She raced towards the sound of Astrid's voice, finding that it went straight into Raven Point. She didn't think about anything else other than finding Astrid and her son. She ran through the forest, not hearing anything else.

Astrid was worried when Valka didn't reply. Had she heard her at all? Had they both been too far away to hear the other? Had she not been loud enough?

"Valka?" Astrid shouted. "Are you there?"

Valka turned and ran to the left. That's where Astrid's voice had come from. She hadn't even thought about replying to the shout until she thought about it more.

"Keep talking, Astrid, I'm coming!" she shouted.

Astrid felt so relieved by Valka's voice at that moment that she could have squealed (which was saying a lot, since Astrid Hofferson _never _squealed). "Hiccup's sleeping, but I think he's okay!" she shouted to Valka. "He was hit with one of Lilya's darts, but he said it will wear off in another little while."

Valka continued to run towards her voice, until she found Astrid and Hiccup. Hiccup was laying in Astrid's arms, looking dangerously pale. Astrid was, at first, frowning, and then looking up at Valka, her face went from scared and worried to utter relief.

"You're here," she breathed.

Valka nodded and ran over, falling in front of Astrid and her son. Astrid looked at the woman and then turned her gaze back to her friend.

"We should get him to a Healer," said Valka. "He doesn't look too good."

"He looked worse when I first found him," Astrid admitted. She didn't want to tell Valka anything more negative than she had to, but Valka was Hiccup's mother. Besides, Astrid would tell her eventually. Why not now? "He could hardly say a word without passing out. He talked to me a bit afterwards, though, which I guess is good. It means he's at least getting better. But yeah, he looked _way _worse."

Valka couldn't imagine what would look worse than he already did, so she tried not to think about it. Instead, she stood up. She didn't want to leave Hiccup, but she had to go back and get a stretcher. Besides, she knew Hiccup would be in good hands just so long as Astrid was with him.

"I'll be _right back_," Valka promised, almost sternly. "Do _not _move from this spot."

"How would I do that?" said Astrid, gesturing to the boy in her arms.

"You know what I mean," said Valka. "Be back in just a second."

"Okay, hurry," said Astrid. Valka nodded, turned, and ran off towards the village. She ran like her life depended on it. Hiccup was alive. Her dream hadn't turned into reality. It gave her hope. Hiccup was okay, from what Astrid had said. That was the important thing. She raced back to the Great Hall, found a spare stretcher, and then ran back to Raven Point. Before she left, however, she told some of the Healers to get ready for Hiccup. Most of the other Berkians had already been healed and had gotten off without any major, life-threatening injuries. Most of the wounds had been from darts and arrows.

As Valka ran back to Raven Point, she remembered how Hiccup had been shot by an arrow three or four days before. _Three or four days before_. It seemed to have been so recently it was almost scary. But no. It had been quite a little while, which meant that his wound had also healed. Gothi said it would take a few days, and it _had _been a few days. Just one more little thing that relieved Valka.

Then she remembered that the next day they would go back to war, and her mind was filled with dread. They still had an army to fight off. They still had to fight Lilya and her men. They still had to win, or else all of this would have been for nothing.

Astrid and Hiccup were in their same positions when Valka returned. After helping Valka get Hiccup on the stretcher, Astrid and she took Hiccup back to the village.

...

Gothi was summoned to the Great Hall to look over Hiccup specifically. The Elder gave the young chief some medicine to help him sleep, and then told Valka and Astrid about the dart.

She had seen it a few times in the past; it wasn't serious. The venom in the dart would make the victim weak and sick for a few days, and then cut off abruptly as if nothing had ever happened. It was a strange way it worked, but at least it wasn't permanent. She said that Hiccup should wake up and be back to his old self by the next morning.

It was a relief to everyone. At that point, they had all heard about how they had found Hiccup. They were all overjoyed that he wasn't dead for two reasons. A) he was the smartest person on Berk and B) because if he died, Snotlout would be left in charge of the village, and no one was quite ready for _that_.

Later on, Hiccup was moved by Valka and Astrid to the Haddock residence, that way Valka could keep watch on him, and she wouldn't have to worry about Healers waking him up, since it was clear he needed the rest. Valka stayed with him half way through that night, until soft footsteps made her look towards the stairway.

Astrid stood, still clad in all her armor and such, looking at Valka and Hiccup before crossing over to them both.

"Still sleeping, huh," she said to Valka.

"Yeah," said Valka, "but it's good. He needs to rest. It's a lot of pressure, being Chief, especially during a battle."

"Valka," said Astrid, "when was the last time you slept?"

"About a day," said Valka. She had gotten a small amount of sleep the night before, but that wasn't exactly sleep, even though Valka accounted it as so.

"You should go get some yourself," said Astrid. "Don't worry, I'll make sure Hiccup's okay. You need to sleep sometimes, though. Hiccup will be fine."

Valka sighed and nodded. There was no arguing with the Hofferson girl. So, she walked briskly downstairs and tried to get her mind off the one thing it kept roaming to.


	19. Chapter 19

**SHOUT-OUTS NEXT CHAPTER I PROMISE IT IS REALLY LATE. Enjoy the chapter, I will do shout-outs for previous chapters tomorrow! My THIRD update today. :) **

Astrid stayed there all night. She didn't even tire, nor think about herself for one instant. She had been sleeping (unconscious...whichever way you chose to call it by) for two days straight, according to Valka. It was high time she did something for someone else.

When Hiccup woke up the next morning, he appeared to be "back to his old self", just as Gothi had said he would.

"You got help, I presume," he said, looking over at Astrid while sitting up.

"Yeah, yeah, I did," said Astrid. "You were sleeping. I wouldn't expect you to remember much of it."

Hiccup nodded. Most of the color had returned to his face, as did his upbeat attitude return to his being.

"And...thanks," he said. "You know, for finding me."

"It was chance, possibly," said Astrid. "You weren't on Thor's Beach. I just so happened to stumble across you on Raven Point. It was nothing I did."

"Thanks anyway," he said. He tossed his legs - leg - over the side of the bed and stood up, wavering slightly. "Lilya has tons of different darts, I guess," he said. "She hit you with a knockout dart, hit me with a sleeping dart the first time when we were on Hysteria, and then hit me with that real weird one."

"Yeah," said Astrid.

"She has a crossbow on her shield, too," said Hiccup. "How unfair is that?"

"She has a crossbow...on her shield?" said Astrid.

"Dagur told her about my weapon, and she built her own," said Hiccup. "She stole my idea," he grumbled.

"Doesn't matter too much," said Astrid. "I sent Toothless out to get Inferno and your shield a little while back, before you woke up. He should be returning-ahh!"

She sprang out of the way when Toothless barrel rolled through the window. He dropped the shield and flaming sword at Hiccup's feet, and then licked his master. Hiccup laughed and shoved him away before he could coat him with more dragon saliva.

"It's great to see you too, bud," he smiled at the Night Fury. Toothless gave him a toothless grin with his teeth sheathed and then smiled at Astrid. Astrid was getting to her feet again, brushing her skirt off.

"Thanks, Toothless," she said sarcastically. Toothless ran over and licked her. "Agh, Toothless stop!" she laughed. "I know you're sorry! You better be, too!"

"We should head out," said Hiccup. "We don't know what time exactly Lilya and her men are going to attack us again."

Astrid nodded. He was right. She, him and Toothless bolted down the stairs just as Valka was coming up them. Both parties stopped before they could slam into each other.

"Hey, Mom," Hiccup greeted. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," she replied. "I'm glad to see you alright. You gave us all quite the scare there."

"No kidding," said Astrid.

"Okay, okay, I get you were worried," said Hiccup. "You all ready to go now?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," said Valka. They all made their way down the rest of the stairs, and then out the door. Lilya's ships were already heading in their direction again, all the people already at their posts.

"Thor's Beach," said Hiccup. "Ready?"

"Only this time, I'm going with you," said Valka. She couldn't stand not being with him after what happened. She had been so certain the day before that she had lost him forever. She wasn't going to live through that a second time. She wasn't going to let it become a reality.

"Okay," said Hiccup. He knew there was no keeping her behind, especially after she was so worried about him, not to mention all of her nightmares. She, Astrid and Hiccup ran towards Thor's Beach, Toothless roaring for the dragons to follow before he followed his master.

The Berkians were already lined up, watching as Lilya's ships neared. Valka and Astrid took their place, Toothless and the dragons taking theirs as well. Hiccup got up in front of his people. It was time to fight. It would end today, no matter how it ended.

"Hooligans," Hiccup said, "today we fight. This day we fight. No matter what happens, no matter _what _or _how _crazy it gets, I need you all to trust me. We will win. We will defeat Lilya. We will prevail! Am I right!?"

The army roared with agreement, holding their weapons over their heads. Hiccup gripped his shield tighter, holding Inferno up into the morning air.

"Then we fight!" he shouted. He turned around, his eyes on Lilya's ships. Just before her men ran down the planks to fight, Lilya locked eyes with Hiccup, and then shouted to all the Berkians;

"MY ULTIMATE WEAPON!"

She sheathed her sword, and picked up a...bullhook. A bullhook. Valka and Hiccup gasped. They knew what this meant. This meant that...

"RISE!" Lilya shouted. Up from the water, the dragon began emerging, stepping onto the sandy beach.

Fear was a funny thing, really, it was. Hiccup hadn't known fear like this since the battle with the Red Death. The ultimate weapon of their new greatest foe was a dragon, as big as a mountain, huge wings folded across its back, solid red skin tone piercing, almost like the color of blood. It roared; the dragons on the Berkian side roared back, but it sounded like a yap in comparison to this monster's battle cry.

Before another word could have been spoken, Lilya's men attacked. The Berkians charged. Metal hit metal as the two armies collided. Hiccup located Astrid and Valka in the crowd of fighting warriors. Apparently, they had been looking for him, too. They ran up to each other, and just before Astrid and Valka said something, Hiccup spoke.

"I'm so sorry I let you down..." he said, "but this...this is bigger than me. Hold ranks together, and get somewhere safe!" he shouted as he turned and ran off.

"Hiccup, wait!" Astrid shouted, but she was too late. Hiccup strapped his shield to his back, jumped on Toothless, and took off.

This was the Red Death on a level he had never seen before. The Berkians who had dragons mounted them, trying to take down the biggest problem while the other soldiers fought Lilya's on the ground. Astrid and Valka were two of them, and then rode Cloudjumper and Stormfly, firing everything they had at the new threat, possibly even bigger than Lilya's entire armada.

Hiccup and Toothless made straight for the dragon, although Hiccup's mind was screaming for him to do the exact opposite.

"Come on!" Hiccup shouted tauntingly. "Is that all you've got!?"

The Blood Red Death roared at him and his Night Fury, trying to snap him out of midair. Toothless barrel rolled to the side, just narrowly avoiding it.

"Come on, bud," said Hiccup. "Let's take care of him the same way we took care of the Red Death." Toothless roared, and then fired a plasma blast straight at the Blood Red Death's wings. The dragon roared in fury, and then spread them. That went well. Well, as well as it had been expected.

But Hiccup hadn't expected the thing to be so...blazing..._fast_. It almost outflew Toothless as the Night Fury blasted into the sky. The other dragons and riders tried to follow, but it was like running after a motorcycle. None of them could keep up. Toothless could barely keep ahead of the dragon, even at his very, very top speed.

Valka watched as Hiccup and the dragon disappeared into the clouds. Maybe she had never known fear until that moment. Fear, watching her only son fight a monster bigger than any Bewilderbeast she had ever seen, and watching, knowing there was nothing she could do about it.

"Come on, Toothless!" Hiccup shouted. "We can do it, buddy, just hang on a few minutes longer!" Disappearing from this beast wasn't going to be easy; it waved away most the clouds with its wings. But that didn't stop Hiccup from trying. After he was sure they were high enough, he turned Toothless around, and then shot back towards the ocean. The Blood Red Death, in angered fury, followed closely behind.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on," Hiccup repeated over and over and over to himself. "Come on, don't let it end the same way the Red Death ended...don't let it..." He looked back, just to make sure Toothless' tailfin wasn't on fire, and then looked to make sure he still had his right leg.

Well, of course, the Blood Red Death hadn't been taken down yet.

The ocean approached rapidly, and before Hiccup knew what was happening, it was already somewhat close. Four hundred feet, and they would hit it. He looked back at the Death and thought about his options. Then, he waited for the dragon to open its mouth. He waited for a chance to fire at it. Then, it came. The Blood Red Death opened his mouth to either roar or fire at them, Hiccup didn't know.

"NOW!" he screamed so loudly he was certain the whole of Berk could have heard him. Toothless flipped around and fired, straight into the Death's mouth. He didn't stop there either. He fired a second, third, fourth, and then fifth in a rapid session, making sure it couldn't fly back up; making sure it would never get up again.

Hiccup smiled. Toothless still had his tailfin. They could clear it with no problem. Or so he thought. The Blood Red Death clawed at Toothless and Hiccup just before stilling and crashing into the ocean below. The waves it caused on the shore were horrendous, not like Toothless or Hiccup cared.

It was the battle with the Red Death all over again. The dragon went down, Toothless and Hiccup tried to clear, Hiccup was thrown from the saddle...it matched almost perfectly.

Only this time, Hiccup was screaming.


	20. Chapter 20

**So was THAT a bad cliffhanger or WHAT? So sorry about that, but hey, they don't call me "Queen Cliffy" for nothing now, do they? :) As I promised, shout-outs (from chapters 18 and 19): **

**silverwolvesarecool: YES Hiccup's okay! ... No wait ... AAAAAAH! And YAY, you finished part of the drawing! :D Thanks again for wanting to do this for me! :) **

**TheLastNightFury: Wow, you have no idea how much that review meant to me. :) THANK YOU! :D**

**HiccupHaddockIII: AAAH HICCSTRID OVERLOAD I CAN'T EVEN ASGHJEDHJKHAJKSHEDHJ! *dies* **

**Silver Electricity: Puns puns, puns puns, punpunpunpunpunpunpunpunpunpun. I LOVE PUUUUUNS. I am going to get PUNished one of these days. *facepalm* Sorry, I couldn't resist! :D **

**Jesusfreak: Sorry...I really didn't mean to do that cliffhanger. *hides before angry readers come after me* **

**Paloma2323: Ahhh, sorry about that. I just can't stop myself. I see the perfect opportunity for a cliffhanger and I just gotta..._take it_. You know. It's...who I am. :D **

**Guest: Find out here! :D **

**Night Fury15: I apologize for...the cliffhangers. :) And I also apologize in advance for all future ones as well. :) **

He was screaming. He screamed, not knowing what else to do as he fell towards the ocean. He screamed, thinking about how he had failed everyone he knew. Astrid. Valka. Snotlout. Ruffnut. Tuffnut. Gobber. Fishlegs. Gustav. Everyone else on Berk. Not to mention Toothless...

Toothless flew towards his falling rider, desperately trying to make it in time. He made it last time, nearly six years ago; he could make it again. Right? _Right? _He didn't know. He didn't know if he would be able to make it or not.

Hiccup closed his eyes and braced for impact on the ocean, but it didn't exactly come. Instead, he felt something grab him. At first instinct, he fought it, and then realized it was Toothless.

Toothless?

They hit the ocean. The impact was enough to zone Hiccup out, even if he was protected by Toothless. Toothless shook himself out of his daze once he realized they were submerged somewhat deeply in the ocean. Without another thought elsewise, he swam to the surface. As soon as they resurfaced, Hiccup gasped and was brought back to reality, staring at his dragon, and, for some reason, laughing. They were alive. They were alive, and at that moment, that was all that mattered. Toothless cocked his head sideways, wondering what in the world was so funny, and Hiccup stopped.

"Let's finish those Berserkers," he said. He pushed himself onto Toothless' back, clicked his prosthetic into the petal, and then Toothless took to the sky, shaking the water off his wings and body. Hiccup, for some reason, couldn't stop smiling. And if he was laughing giddily while flying to battle, well...no one needed to know that.

Lilya was horrified. He had killed the Death. He had killed her ultimate weapon. Now, it was just a battle. Now, it was an even fight. Now, it was men against men, the Berkians using dragons to help along their way.

"HICCUP HORRENDOUS HADDOCK THE THIRD!" Lilya screamed. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Thank you for the update, Lilya, but I already know!" he shouted back. "Most people who meet me want to kill me, don't worry! Please get in line!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" she screamed in fury. "KILL HIM!" she screamed at her archers. "SHOOT...HIM...DOWN!"

Darts whizzed through the air; black ones, red ones, white ones, blue ones, those arrow darts...darts of all kinds. Toothless dodged each and every one of them with surprising ease. Hiccup whooped as Toothless fired a plasma blast in front of the archers. It was enough to blow them off their feet; not enough to kill them. They sprang backwards, falling flat on their backs.

Lilya fired her own darts through the air with her crossbow/shield, and Toothless continued to dodge. One single dart, however, sliced through Toothless' prosthetic tailfin as if it were made of paper.

"Oh _come on_," Hiccup groaned. Toothless plummeted towards the ground. "AAAAAAAAAHHH!" Hiccup screamed, yanking on the saddlehorn desperately, trying to pull the dragon and himself back into the air before they crashed, but to no avail. Toothless roared and tried to land somewhat gently, although it didn't exactly go down as he had planned. Toothless slammed into the ground, somersaulted, and then came to a stop. Hiccup stood up, dazed, and barely had a moment to think elsewise before Lilya was on him, wielding her sword with a scream of fury. He drew Inferno just in time to parry with her.

"Now we fight," Lilya hissed, pushing up against Hiccup's fire lit blade. "_Now _I avenge my brother. Now you pay."  
>Hiccup clenched his teeth and shoved her backwards with Inferno. The maniacal girl charged back at him in fury. Hiccup dodged and ducked, parrying only when necessary. Toothless roared and tried to attack, Astrid and Valka running up behind him to do the same, but Hiccup held out a hand.<p>

"No!" he shouted. "This is between me, and Lilya!"

"That's right," said Lilya. "It's just you, and me. And in a few minutes, it will be just me." She swiped with her sword, Hiccup blocked her blow. He swung Inferno, connecting with Lilya's side. She screamed and stumbled back, hands gripping her wound. She glared daggers at Hiccup, and charged again. Hiccup picked up his shield and threw it; she ducked, but the boomerang effect on the shield kicked in. It came back and knocked Lilya off balance, leaving her to tumble to the ground.

Her sword flew out of her hands and clattered on the ground a few feet away. Hiccup stood over the maniacal chief, lifted the sword over his head, and stopped, just before he brought it down. Lilya looked at him, her eyes full of something Hiccup had only seen a handful of times. Fear. They were full of shock, fear, terror and horror all mixed in one terrible expression. Hiccup felt himself hesitating, although he didn't know why.

"Kill me," said Lilya. "Kill me, just like you killed Dagur." She wasn't challenging him; she sounded terrified. As if she were just begging him. Hiccup hesitated. His arms shook as he held Inferno with both hands, holding it over his head, ready to bring it down. Sweat dripped off his forehead as he paused. He shouldn't have. It should have been easy; kill Lilya, scatter her soldiers, win the war. But he stood there, the sword hovering over Lilya's body, his mind battling between killing her and letting her live.

He gritted his teeth and tried to bring down the sword; he stopped. He tried again, and stopped before the blade even so much as touched her. He couldn't kill her. He couldn't. He couldn't kill someone. He found himself in a deja vu, two months ago, when he was standing over Dagur, much like he was standing over Lilya. His sword hand wavered and shook as Hiccup trembled; was he really about to kill someone?

He couldn't do it. He couldn't kill her. Not like he killed Dagur. He couldn't. He hesitated. He tried again. He stopped. He tried again. He paused. He tried again. Sweat made his hands slick. The hilt of his sword slipped slightly, and he tightened his grip, holding it so hard his knuckles turned white, his fingers red. He couldn't kill her, try as he might. His anger and hatred towards this horrible person turned into shock. He wasn't going to kill her. He wasn't. He couldn't. He _wouldn't_.

Maybe it was stupid. Maybe he should have just brought the sword down, or gotten someone else to do the job he couldn't do himself. He threw Inferno to the ground beside him, the sword sinking into the sand at his side. Lilya opened her eyes and uncurled herself from her defensive ball. She looked at him with shock.

"You didn't...you didn't kill me," she said. She got up and pushed herself away from Hiccup with one hand, the other hand still covering her slow bleeding wound. "You didn't...why didn't you...kill me?"

"It's not the Berkian way," said Hiccup. "I wouldn't kill someone. I couldn't kill someone. I...I can't."

"You killed Dagur," Lilya hissed. Hiccup was unaware that she was reaching for her weapon, inching towards it, trying to maintain a straight face as to make Hiccup keep his eyes off her target. "You killed him without a problem. Why am I any different? I was his sister, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third."

"I know you were his sister, Lilya," said Hiccup. "Killing Dagur was not easy for me. I had nightmares, and still do, about the moment he fell off the cliff. I fell with him, you know, but I didn't die. I wasn't killed. It was just him, not me. Lilya, I would have killed you if I wanted to, but maybe I don't. Maybe you don't deserve death."

"You're right," Lilya smirked, having finally reached. "But maybe you do." She grabbed her weapon, jumped to her feet, and raced forward.


	21. Chapter 21

**This is my SECOND update today, and THE STORY'S ALMOST FINISHED EEEEEEEK! Which one should I do next: Blind Sight, or Never Give Up? You can read the full summaries of the stories on my profile (not on the poll). Thank you all, you are awesome. :D Enjoy chapter 21!**

Hiccup wasn't expecting it, but maybe he should have. He clicked Inferno once more, having the blade up just in time to parry with the girl. Lilya screamed in pure fury, hatred, and quite possibly pain. Her wound was barely bleeding, but still looked like it hurt a lot.

"I will kill you, Hiccup!" Lilya screamed. "I will kill you!"

"Hiccup!" Astrid and Valka shouted in unison. Hiccup held out his hand again when they tried to run forward again; this was still just him and Lilya. He couldn't let the ones he cared about most interfere and get themselves hurt.

Lilya swung her blade once more. Hiccup parried. She swung again. Hiccup dodged. She swung. He sidestepped. She swung. He dove. Toothless roared in fury. Valka and Astrid held him back. Lilya charged. Hiccup parried. They fought, back and forth in a crazy exchange of parries, blows and dodges.

Around the two Chiefs, the others were fighting their own war. Battling each other, fighting for their very lives, and not to mention village, people, friends, family, and everyone in between. Toothless finally knew he needed to help the other dragons. He was their Alpha, after all. He helped them fight, keeping most his attention on Hiccup, looking back all the time to make sure he was okay.

Hiccup swung at Lilya, parrying long enough to jump backwards. Sweat dripped off his forehead like rain as she charged at him again. He wasn't ready for this. He wasn't ready to fight Lilya like this. He was still recovering from the arrow wound and the dart. His heart pounded against his chest as if looking for a way to escape, and his breath pounded in his ears, sounding louder and louder by the second until it overcame the sounds of the battle around him.

Lilya kicked him in the shin. He yelped and stumbled backwards, falling flat on his back. He propped himself up with one elbow, still holding Inferno tightly in the other. Lilya was on him, throwing blows; ones that he deflected and dodged, rolling in the sand to one side in order to avoid her.

She aimed a blow at his right side; Hiccup rolled to the left. She aimed at the left; he rolled to the right. Eventually, he managed to push himself back to his feet, wavering slightly. He limped forward and parried with his enemy.

He didn't feel hatred towards Lilya anymore. He did feel something different, however, that he hadn't felt in a long time. He felt a strange mix of pity and anger. Anger, like a parent scolding their child. Lilya was Dagur's younger sister. He probably treated her like dirt her entire life. Knowing Dagur, that was exactly what he would have done.

Lilya managed to knock Hiccup off his feet. The Berkian chief tumbled to the ground with a cry of pain and looked back at Lilya, holding Inferno out in front of him, ready to defend himself once more against the maniacal girl.

At that moment, a voice stood out from all the rest. It was a voice, Hiccup had learned to fear. But...the voice...it wasn't possible, was it?

"Lilya!" the voice shouted. Lilya turned around, and gasped.

Hiccup looked to where she was looking, and had the same reaction.

It was Dagur. It was Dagur the Deranged, although he looked shorter. That, or Hiccup had just gotten taller. Dagur walked up casually, swinging his axe by his side, staring at both Lilya and Hiccup with different expressions.

"D-Dagur?" Lilya stuttered.

"Yep," said Dagur. "You better believe it. Well, don't stop on my account. You were just getting to the good part."

"Good part?" Lilya asked.

"Yes," said Dagur. "The part where you kill Hiccup."

"He says you forced him into battle with you before," said Lilya. "I know it's a lie. He attacked you first. R-right?"

"Actually, Lilya, it's the truth," said Dagur. "I did push him into battle. I captured him and his mother, but they both deserved it. I lost my footing, fell off a cliff, pulled Hiccup down with me. Now two months later, after living and surviving alone, here I am. But I have a few tips for you onto what you do before you kill him." Dagur walked forward, passing Lilya and coming straight for Hiccup. "Hello, Ex-Brother," said Dagur. "Still as bad at swordplay as you were the last time we met."

"Dagur," said Hiccup, acid dripping from his words, "I thought you were dead."

"You thought wrong," said Dagur. "Now, Lilya, watch and do as I do." He pulled his leg back, and kicked Hiccup. Hiccup screamed and gripped the ground, dropping his sword.

"HICCUP!" Valka and Astrid both yelled in fear and terror, trying to run forward. Dagur stopped them by placing his axe right over Hiccup.

"Come forward, even so much as one more little, teeny tiny step...no, _inch, _and I'll kill him!" he threatened. "You know I will, too!" Valka and Astrid stopped in mid-run, looking like they would rather do anything but.

"Your turn, Lilya," said Dagur, stepping aside. Lilya suddenly looked sick. She stepped up, and kicked him, just slightly. Hiccup barely made a sound to indicate he had been hurt.

"Not like that, Lilya," said Dagur. "Do it harder! Harder!"

She couldn't. She remembered what Hiccup said about having no choice on "killing" Dagur, and Dagur just said he was the one who pushed Hiccup into battle, which meant Hiccup had been telling the truth the whole time.

"Do I have to demonstrate _again_?" said Dagur. "You were always dense, sister. Dense. And you still are. And you still-"

"Hiccup was telling the truth," said Lilya. She remembered how Hiccup had spared her only seconds before. If he had spared her, why shouldn't she spare him? What had he ever done to her? Even if Dagur had died, he didn't do it. It wasn't his fault. It was because of Dagur.

"Yeah, maybe," said Dagur. "It doesn't matter now. Kill him! Kill him, sister! Make your brother proud! Do something right for once!"

The more she listened to Dagur, the more angry she became. Hiccup was telling the truth the whole time. Hiccup was _right_. Dagur was bossy. Dagur had always called Lilya names, bossed her around, forced her to do things, as if she were his slave. He hadn't changed a bit. And now, Lilya was fuming.

She was so mad, you could practically see steam coming out of her ears. Her grip on her sword tightened as she breathed harshly through her teeth. Hiccup had curled into himself a few feet away, whimpering and clutching his stomach. That was it. Lilya had had enough of Dagur. She wasn't going to kill him; just teach him a lesson.

In an absolute frenzy and heated, hate-filled rage, she screamed, dropped her sword, and charged at her brother, knocking him off his feet, the weapon flying from his grip. Dagur and Lilya tumbled over each other until they finally stopped, Lilya sitting on top of him.

**Plot-twist much? :) What do you think? **


	22. Chapter 22

**There are two more chapters after this and OH MAH GOOWDNESS WE IS FINISHIN' THE STORY TODAY LIKE WASSUP WIT DAT!? I feel like I've just started it! :D This is my FIRST update today, two more chapters after this one. Just so everyone knows, there will be a sequel, although it won't be out for a few more months, probably. Sorry about that. :( Enjoy this chapter, and then the last two once I post them! :D **

"Hiccup was right," said Lilya. "He did nothing. He didn't do anything to ever hurt you. Ever. Ever. Ever. Ever." She repeated the words, each time pushing down harder on Dagur's arms, fighting to keep them pinned at his side; each time speaking more harshly and loudly, until eventually, she was yelling that one word. Her yelling turned to screaming as she screamed at her brother in anger. Then, she stood up and got off of him.

"Do as you want," said Lilya, "but I will not kill Hiccup." She saw it now. She saw it now more clearly than she ever had before. Hiccup and the Berkians weren't the enemies. Dagur and the Berserkers were.

"I'm glad, sister," said Dagur, "because I'm not really Dagur."

"What?" Lilya stumbled backwards, grabbing a random sword from the battlefield and holding it out in front of her. "Then who are you?"

Dagur stood up, and took off his helmet. It was Snotlout. Snotlout. Snotface Snotlout (as his full name implied). Lilya gasped. Behind her, Astrid and Valka, who were helping Hiccup to his feet, also gasped, while Hiccup didn't look the least bit shocked.

"Yeah, I make a good Dagur," said Snotlout.

"What kind of trickery is this!?" Lilya shouted to Hiccup. It was more a decent question than an angry shout. She didn't sound mad; she sounded confused.

"Lilya," said Hiccup, "Snotlout and I planned this."

"Why?" said Lilya. "It would have been easier to just kill me, wouldn't it?"

"Yes," said Hiccup, "but that's not the Berkian way. It's not my way. Lilya, I knew there was good in you. I just needed to find a way to get you to see it."

"I don't...I don't see how you did that," said Lilya. "I'm sorry I called you a liar."

"Peace, Lilya," said Hiccup. "I forgive you. But our armies are still at each other's throats. Do you accept peace between our tribes?"

"I do, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," said Lilya. Then, she turned around and saw the battling armies, still trying to destroy the other. "Right," said Lilya. "BERSERKERS! STOP!" The Berserkers stopped fighting, facing their Chief, waiting for a command.

"Berkians, cease!" Hiccup shouted. The Berkians instantly stopped, whispering to each other, wondering what was going on.

"We have called peace," said Hiccup.

"What?" said Ruffnut.

"Peace," said Hiccup. "That is what we wanted the whole time, right? Isn't that what everyone wants? No one really wants war. We are going to set up a peace treaty."

Astrid and Valka stared at each other, and then looked back at Hiccup. Lilya wasn't lying; she was serious about making friends with the Berkians, they realized.

"We will create the treaty at the forge in a few hours," said Hiccup. "Get the injured...on either side...to the Great Hall. Tell the Healers of the peace." He turned to Lilya. She turned back at him, and smiled, for the first time in forever, kindly.

Then, they all turned in one accord and went to the forge.

...

Hiccup and Lilya stood across from each other, a table in the middle of them. The Berserkers stood behind Lilya, and the Berkians stood behind Hiccup. This was it. The treaty was going to be created. All they had to do now was agree to it.

"Lilya the Maniacal, Chief of the Berserkers," said Hiccup, "do you pledge peace with Berk? You pledge to help when we ask of it? You pledge with your life?"

"I do," said Lilya. She picked up the charcoal pencil put out for her, and then signed her name at the bottom of the treaty. Then, she turned to look back at Hiccup. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," she said, "Chief of the Hooligan Tribe, do you pledge peace with Hysteria and Berserk, since we are of one accord? You pledge to help when we ask of it? You pledge with your life?"

"I do," said Hiccup. He picked the charcoal up in his left hand, shaking ever so slightly. He signed his name at the bottom of the treaty, right underneath Lilya's. As soon as he stepped back, Lilya and Hiccup extended their hands to each other, almost at the same time, and then shook.

The Berserkers and Berkians cheered. It had ended better than they had expected. Shortly afterwards, they bid farewell to each other. Lilya and her people boarded their ships, and waved goodbye as they headed back to their own island.

So it had ended well after all.

Or...had it?


	23. Chapter 23

**Plot twist. What else is new? This is my SECOND update today, and actually, there are two more to go after this. How's about I finish this story today or tomorrow morning, huh? :) The sequel will be called "How To Not Give Up" and _THAT _will be the final fic in the HOW NOT TO series. :) Enjoy this chapter! :D **

Later on that night, when the stars were bright, and the moon was full and high in the blackish blue sky, Hiccup and Astrid were wandering Thor's Beach, thinking about the events that took place that day, their dragons walking beside them. They had been at war with a tribe at one minute to be allies with them at the next.

Astrid brushed her hand up against the cliff to her left as she walked beside Hiccup.

"You really brought the good out of Lilya," said Astrid, almost in awe. "I guess she had it in her from the beginning, if you know what I mean. She was just blinded temporarily by hatred towards you that she forgot the good in her."

Hiccup nodded. "I agree fully," he said. "I still think Snotlout acting as Dagur was a big part of it as well. She saw that there was good in her without someone else trying to bring it out of her. She wasn't all she cracked up to be. I wish we could have met them differently though."

"Yeah, no kidding," Astrid said while laughing and shaking her head. "We met with darts, weapons, wars...and now we're allies." She laughed again. It was all too hard to believe. "So now the Outcasts and the Berserkers are our allies. Two down, one to go."

Now it was Hiccup's turn to laugh and shake his head. "I don't think Drago has it in his mind to become our allies," he said. "And even if he did, no Berkian would choose to be in league with him. Not even me."

Astrid smiled. She was so joyed at that moment. Neither her nor Valka's dream had come to pass. It was all okay now that this was all over with. Not many Berkians had even been hurt, and those who had been hadn't been hurt severely. They were already pretty much back to their old selves.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumble. The Earth shifted beneath their feet, trembled like mad, growing in intensity. Hiccup and Astrid exchanged glances.

"Earthquake," said Hiccup. He looked up suddenly, and then saw the cliffside crumbling, large pieces of stone and rock tumbling down the face. "ASTRID, LOOK OUT!" he shouted.

Before she could act, something caught her eye; a large piece of stone, coming straight for her. She would never have time to jump out of the way. Before she could move or even begin to move, something slammed into her - hard. She fell to the ground, just as the rockslide and earthquake subsided.

Something had pushed her out of the way. Or...maybe it was...some_one_. No. No no no. Not her nightmare. Not her nightmare. Looking back, she saw that it was...

"HICCUP!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. She jumped to her feet and raced forward, gripping the rock that pinned his legs and body. Only his head and an arm jutted out from its girth. Astrid grunted and tried to heave the rock upwards, yanking it as hard as she possibly could have.

Stormfly and Toothless roared at both their riders and raced over. Together, the two dragons, slowly but surely, began lifting the rock in their teeth. Astrid knelt down in front of Hiccup, waiting for the right moment to yank him out from under the rock.

"Astrid..." he whispered. "I'm not gonna...make..."

"Don't say that," she hissed before he could even finish his thought. "You're gonna be _fine_." Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the rock was lifted just barely enough. Astrid grabbed Hiccup's arm and yanked him out from under it, turning him over almost instantly. He was still alive, but Astrid didn't know for how much longer.

He was crushed. Literally. By a rock. It was hard for him to completely grasp. It was Astrid's dream. Hiccup saw it now. He fought to keep his eyes open, trying to stay awake. Because he was afraid if he fell asleep, he might never wake up again.

"No no no no no, don't do this to me, Hiccup," said Astrid in a pleading tone. "Stay with me. Stay awake. Please."

He fought. He rambled about stuff he wasn't fully sure about. He didn't understand a word of what he was saying, but he needed to keep himself conscious. He could feel it. If he lost consciousness, that would be it. He would never regain it again. He would never open his eyes again. He would never see Astrid or any of the other people in the village again. He would never ride Toothless again. He would never shout "RUFFNUT AND TUFFNUT STOP BLOWING HOLES IN THAT HOUSE" ever again. It was a more common saying for him, not that it mattered too much at that moment.

He kept himself talking. He kept talking about how sorry he was about failing everyone. He kept talking about a random plan he had for Toothless' tailfin. He grasped any idea he had and talked about it, trying to keep himself awake. He had to keep himself awake.

"HELP!" Astrid screamed. "SOMEONE HELP! PLEASE!" Her shouting lacked the usual tough, demanding tone that made the voice her own. "Stormfly, go get help, NOW!" She yelled at her dragon. Stormfly flew off as quickly as possible, heading back to the village to get what Astrid had commanded.

Toothless looked at both his rider and Astrid in anguish, wishing there was something he could do, knowing there was nothing.

"I'm sorry," Hiccup kept repeating. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry."

"Just..._Stop_," said Astrid. "Just stop it. Stop apologizing. It's my fault, Dragon Boy. Don't blame yourself." She could feel tears blur her vision. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop them, even if she tried. They slipped past her lashes without her permission as her mind took darker turns.

Hiccup didn't listen; he kept whispering how sorry he was, how much he'd failed everyone, everything. He didn't stop, either. He was afraid if he stopped he wouldn't start again. He clung to Astrid as if she were his lifeline; in truth, she was. She was the only thing keeping him anchored to the world.

He gasped and held Astrid's arms in a death grip. Astrid hugged him back, trying to keep her tears at bay. He didn't need to see her crying, especially when she was trying to reassure him he'd be fine.

"You're fine," she said. "You're fine. You're fine, you'll see." But how do you tell someone that they're fine when they're not?

"I'm sorry..." Hiccup whimpered again. "I just...wanted to protect everyone...and now look where I...am." He choked on the last word, closing his eyes again.

"_Shut up_," said Astrid, but she was crying now. "You've protected us better than you think."

Hiccup gasped for breath and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep himself conscious.

"Stay awake," said Astrid. "Come on, stay awake, Hiccup. Stay. Awake." Where was Stormfly? She should have been back by then. They needed her. They needed _help_.

"Stay with me, Hiccup," she said. "Stay with me."


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: I really enjoyed that last chapter. It was sad, and slightly hard to write, but I enjoyed it. It was really sweet. Maybe Astrid's not the caring type, but I mean...come on. Her face in the first film when she thought Hiccup had died? Her face when she heard Hiccup was leaving in episode thirteen? What about that time in the episode "Portrait of Hiccup as a Buff Man" when she thought he had been hurt? She cares. She's just a hard nut to crack. **

**I suppose each book in the "How Not To" series focuses on a different character (or characters). "How Not To Celebrate Your Birthday" was centered mostly around Hiccup, "How Not To Lead Your Armada" was focused slightly more on Astrid. "How Not To Ride Your Dragon" was focusing on Hiccup/Valka Mother/Son bonding (which I love, since Hiccup lived twenty years without a mother and Valka lived twenty years without a son, and he just recently got her back and MAN it's beautiful), and then this one, "How Not To Meet Your Ally" is focused on Hiccup and Astrid's relationship, not as a romance, but as best friends. **

**I still can't believe Dreamworks let Hiccup get struck by lightning in episode 13, "When Lightning Strikes." It was so unexpected and beautiful at the same time. And that short little moment with Stoick and Hiccup afterwards was...GAH. I kind of died. It was only **_**three seconds **_**long and I still died. It was so sweet! I know, sorry about the long A/N, I just felt the need to get that out there. I just bumped my knee on the table and now I'm mad. XD! Hahaha. Enjoy the chapter! **

It was official: Valka hated surprises. She had mixed feelings about them in the past, like when she found Hiccup in the ice cave, learning him to be her son after being away for twenty years. But then there was Stoick's death; an unpleasant surprise she hated to think about. And now, Stormfly was roaring outside her house, pleading with her to come out.

As soon as Stormfly started roaring, Valka had been on her feet, at the door, swinging it wide open. Astrid and Hiccup weren't with them, and neither was Toothless, but Stormfly was. What did that mean? Nothing good, to be sure. Nothing good _at all_.

Just a little bit before, Astrid and Hiccup had gone out for an evening walk to try and calibrate the events of that day. They had been gone for roughly an hour before Stormfly returned without her rider, without Hiccup, and without Hiccup's Night Fury.

"What's the matter?" said Valka. "Where's Astrid, Hiccup and Toothless?"

Instead of replying, Stormfly spread her wings and flew. Valka instantly knew something was wrong. She whistled to Cloudjumper, mounted him as soon as he got there, and then took off after Stormfly.

She hated surprises even more when she realized what the Nadder was freaking out about.

"Hiccup! Astrid!" she shouted from atop Cloudjumper. The Stormcutter landed as close as possible to allow his rider to dismount. Valka did so, running over, jumping over and racing around different rocks and stones.

Yes, she most _assuredly _hated surprises.

"Valka!" Astrid screamed. "Help!"

...

Valka and Astrid waited downstairs for Gothi to finish looking over Hiccup. Valka couldn't stop pacing while Astrid told her again what had happened, blaming herself all the same.

"I should have moved out of the way," she said, burying her head in her hands. "Hiccup shouldn't have had to...had to..." She broke into another round of sobbing. "He...he told me he thought he'd failed us...I told him he hadn't, but...really, I had been the one to fail _him_."

"You shouldn't blame yourself," said Valka, not even looking at the girl as she paced her living room, striding back and forth, turning on her heel whenever she reached the opposite wall. "Hiccup's as stubborn as his father was before him. He gets a lot of that from him, you know. If you told him you'd failed him, he'd flip right around and tell you the opposite."

"Maybe..." said Astrid, "but that doesn't mean it's right." She closed her eyes and tried to think of something different, failing all the same. Every time she even so much as shut her eyes, even for a second, she saw Hiccup getting crushed under the rocks of the earthquake. Her eyes jolted open, and she found herself wishing it had been different.

Astrid tried to look up at Hiccup's loft to see what was going on, but all she saw was the top of Toothless' head. Toothless. Funny how stubborn that Night Fury was. Gothi told him to get out, and as soon as he did, he tried to get up again. Eventually, Astrid and Valka had thrown him outside, just to have him barrel roll through Hiccup's window. After that, Gothi just decided that he could stay as long as he stayed out of her way.

Astrid wished she could have been up there as well, but maybe she was glad to some extent that she wasn't. She didn't want to see the injuries Hiccup received from saving her life. She didn't want to see the damage she had unintentionally caused. It was her nightmare; indirectly. In her dream, they had still been enemies with Lilya. In reality, they had formed a treaty. But either way, Hiccup was smashed.

Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs waited outside the door with their dragons. Valka and Astrid had brought Hiccup back on Cloudjumper, and they five were the first to notice. It was in the middle of the night, so no one else appeared to, and maybe it was just as well. That way, they wasn't a huge crowd of people in front of the Haddock residence, asking negative questions and shouting random theories on Hiccup's injuries.

No one needed either of those things. They wouldn't help the situation, even slightly.

Valka and Astrid sat up all night; literally all night. When Gothi finally finished up with Hiccup, it was dawn, the first few rays of sunlight stretching across Berk. Maybe it would have been beautiful, had Astrid had time to admire it. She stood up with Valka as soon as Gothi walked down the stairs. Before she had time to write anything out, Valka and Astrid darted up the stairway like Speed Stingers. Gothi groaned and followed them back up the stairs of which she had come.

Astrid had been expecting worse, in all honesty.

However, that didn't mean what she saw was exactly _the best_, either.

Hiccup was laying on his bed, unconscious. One of his arms was tightly wrapped and in a sling bound to his heavily bandaged chest. His right leg was splinted and wrapped in gauze and mud plaster, his forehead also done up. Not only that, but he was pale. He was _incredibly_ pale. But at least he was alive, unlike how her nightmare had turned out...

She had been unaware of Valka calling for Fishlegs once Gothi started writing with her staff on the ground. Fishlegs ran up the stairs, ready to translate what she had written.

"She says he suffered a slight concussion, although most of the damage went to his ribs and leg," said Fishlegs. "His right one is broken worse than most breaks. He won't be able to walk on it for roughly five months. His left leg suffered little to no damage, though, so as soon as his arm heals, he's okay to use crutches. His arm should be healed in maybe a month or two. Three of his ribs are broken, which will take around two to three months to be fully recovered. All in all, we're talking a five month recovery in total. Gothi said it could be a lot worse."

Valka and Astrid both released a breath they didn't know they were holding.

He was going to pull through.

**I'm sorry to all those who thought I was going to make Hiccup die an honorable death, but no, he's not gonna die. I'm getting you all ready for the next "How Not To" fanfic. :P One more chapter after this, and we're done! I'm doing "Blind Sight" after this one. :) **


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: So you really thought I would kill Hiccup those two chapters ago? Well, for those who did, I didn't! Hahaha! Now he can return to his duties, see Astrid, and make things go BOOM. It's MAKE THINGS GO BOOM time! (Quoting Percy Jackson there a bit. Lol). Well, not for a few months, anyways, the guy's still injured, but A-L-I-V-E! Sweet relief, ya'll! YES. Sorry, I don't really get tired of being random. I guess I'm really into it. :D Enjoy chapter 25! FINAL CHAPTER! :D ENJOY! **

Was he dead?

That didn't seem quite right, but that's how he felt. One minute he's pretty much dead, and the next he's in his room. Maybe this was some dream? Do you dream when you're dead? Hiccup doubted it. But then how would that explain all this? He really didn't have a clue. Not only that, but Toothless was there, too, sleeping, curled up on his stone slab in the corner.

Was Toothless dead, too?

That didn't seem quite right, either. But then why was he here, unless Hiccup was alive?

This was all too confusing.

Wincing, he sat up and leaned against the headboard. His arm, chest, and right leg were done up in bandages from what he saw. Did you bandage dead people's injuries? Really, he doubted that even more than he doubted dreaming. And he was in _his house_. Did that count for something, or not?

At first, he wondered what had happened, until he remembered.

"_ASTRID, LOOK OUT!"_

"_HICCUP!"_

"_Astrid...I'm not gonna...make..."_

"_Don't say that. You're gonna be fine. No. No no no no, don't do this to me, Hiccup. Stay with me. Stay awake. Please. HELP! SOMEONE HELP! PLEASE! You're fine. You're fine. You'll see."_

Yes, he remembered it. He put his head in his left hand and then realized his forehead had been done up, too. He wasn't dead. Where was everyone else?

"Toothless..." Hiccup whistled. The Night Fury perked up instantly, his teeth sheathed, a happy, gummy grin on his face as he bounded over, shaking the entire frame of the house in the process. He paused right in front of Hiccup and waited for him to make the first move. Hiccup ran his hand over the dragon's head and smiled.

"Yeah, great to see you too, buddy," he said.

And if that wasn't permission enough, Toothless didn't know what was. He licked his master, and for the first time in a long while, Hiccup let him. He wasn't exactly thrilled about it, but he didn't mind it at that moment. He was alive, and so was Toothless, and so were the Berkians. That's all that mattered at that point.

Another instant later, the door swung open. Footsteps stomped up the staircase, and Hiccup was greeted by Astrid and Valka both.

"Hiccup!" they both exclaimed in unison.

"Hey guys," he said back. "How long was I out?"

"Not too long," said Valka. "About a day at tops. But I promise you, Hiccup, if you ever scare me like that again, I will tie you to a tree...no, I will tie you to _me_...and then get you to stay out of danger. Understood?"

"Sure, Mom," said Hiccup. "I take it you two were worried?"

"'Worried' is an understatement," said Astrid. "I..._we _almost lost you. Everyone was worried. Apparently, the twins thought it was a good idea to go tell everyone what happened, so most the villagers were here for a little bit this morning until we _finally _managed to shoo them away. And then we walk inside and you're awake."

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "It's nice to be awake."

"It's nice to have you awake, too," said Astrid. "Well, I'll be back in a few minutes. I'm supposed to help Snotlout and the twins with their dragons in just a se-" As if on cue, an explosion sounded outside, followed by screams of villagers.

"Yeah, you should go," said Hiccup.

"Five minutes," said Astrid. "I will be back in five minutes." She turned and bolted down the stairway and disappeared out the door. Hiccup turned to his mother and grinned.

"You wanna play chess?" he asked.

Valka smiled, and retrieved the chess game. Then, she and Hiccup set up their pieces. This time, Hiccup was determined he would win.

* * *

><p>Later on that evening (after Valka won five games of chess in a row), Astrid was returning to the Haddock residence just to check on Hiccup, and to make sure that everything was going smoothly with his recovery. He was awake when she got there, and regarded her with a smile.<p>

"Hey, Astrid," he said, and then paused. She moved over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it, waiting for him to continue. "I'm glad you're here," he said. "Um...because...uh...there was something I wanted to ask you."

"Yes?" said Astrid.

"Okay, Astrid," said Hiccup. "Oh, wait a second, I forgot." He reached over to his desk and grabbed a small box...

No way.

"Astrid?" said Hiccup. "Um...I know, maybe this is a bad time, but after the war and everything...would you mar-"

"YES!" Astrid screamed, and then threw her arms around him. Hiccup hesitated slightly before he returned the embrace with his good arm.

"Really?" he said. Astrid nodded into his shoulder as she pulled away from him.

Then, she smiled at him...and then balled her fist and punched his shoulder.

"OW!" Hiccup protested. "What are you-"

"That's for not asking me sooner," said Astrid. Then, she kissed him. "And that..." she said, "is because you asked at all."

_**THE END**_

**SO THE SEQUEL WILL BE UP SOON (PROBABLY...I WILL DO MY BEST!). And just so you all know, the sequel will include Hiccup and Astrid's children. OH MY GOODNESS THERE WILL BE LITTLE HADDOCK AND FORMER HOFFERSON KIDS AND IT WILL BE SO CUTE! :D Anyways, I hope this story was good. :) Until next time! :D**


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